Boiling Water
by InfernoDarkness
Summary: AU. After the battle with Tartaros came to a close, Juvia is left behind as Gray goes onto his own path to destroy E.N.D. Journeying with the Dragonslayer, what does she hope to find along the way?
1. Parting Clouds

**Chapter I: Parting Clouds**

* * *

Sitting in the darkness, the young water mage stared at the flickering of pyres emitted from the burning cackling fire. Her knees huddled up against her chest; she solemnly looked at the flames, hoping to find some warmth. It had been a long week since the day she and Gray had a strange falling out of sorts. With the battle against Mard Geer and his followers were finally over, she wasn't able to talk things over with Gray as they were all busy trying to get back to normal status. Their guild was destroyed, and everyone had gone their own separate ways to pursue their own goals. She had wanted to follow Gray, wherever he went, but he had told her he needed time on his own to process what had happened, as well as another objective he couldn't tell her. It was hard for her to hear that he didn't want her to follow him, and more so how serious he was about needing the distance between them.

"Juvia!" a voice called out to her, breaking her out of her trance. Turning to face the voice, she watched as the pink haired dragonslayer came from the distance under the heavy rain, holding a large fish up above his head, "I got a large fish for tonight" grinning he dropped it just next to her, "Sorry if it's repetitive, it's just Happy and I usually find it easier to cook fish on a journey, plus it's kind of hard finding anything else under this rain" scratching the side of his cheek.

Putting up a fake smile, she sincerely disagreed, "No it's all right" assuring him, "Juvia is more than happy enough that Natsu was kind enough to allow Juvia to accompany him on his travels" though, she couldn't help but feel bad that she's caused an unending rain, slightly ruining the trip.

"Ah, no problem" smiling, he rummaged around to find a branch strong enough as he speared through the fish and propped it up against the fire, "I was just a little surprised is all" telling her, "Usually you're all... what's the word..." his eyes dulled as he reached his limitations.

It was then the little blue exceed beside him popped up to assist his friend, "Clingy~" saying in a cheerful expression.

"Ah, right, clingy!" victoriously announcing, "But yeah... why aren't you?" curiously staring over at the blue haired mage.

Her expression began to fall, wondering herself how she could explain it to him. "Juvia... doesn't know" admitting to him, "Gray-sama seemed so,... troubled, but also refused to let Juvia close..."

"Hmm..." thinking over it, he kept his gaze over the fish that was cooking over the large fire. He could vaguely remember the confrontation he had with Gray during the fight over the book of E.N.D. He wanted to destroy it, while he himself wanted to take get it back from them in one piece, "It must be because of that book" pondering over what he could remember, "He seemed awfully obsessed with wanting to destroy it,... obsessed enough to even fight me over it" commenting on what he could remember, "...Stupid popsicle head" slightly peeved that Gray gave him a hard time for something trivial in a dire situation, "Next time I see that ice princess, I'm going to..."

It was then he was met with a cold splash of water, shocking him from the suden action. "Juvia will not tolerate any vile thoughts towards her Gray-sama" suddenly she felt back into her usual mood, "Juvia has faith... that... that..." even her own mind was wavering over the sudden change in Gray, trying to think of only the best and not worst of her beloved.

"Oii" shaking himself off of the water, "I wasn't saying anything bad..." lightly bothered, "Just saying what happened is all... and a bit of the truth" using his scarf to wipe off any more water he chuckled to himself about the names he called Gray, "Food's done!" commenting with a large smile, like that, he exited the bad mood he was in, "Dinner's up, Juvia" cheerfully, he plucked up the fish and began to help serve for the three of them. He was used to it, as any time he called Gray something insulting, or made any statements that the ice mage had vile intentions, Juvia would retaliate with a strike of water.

Under the starlit sky, the three of them ate dinner before clocking in after a long day. The two of them took turns watching camp while the other one showered. She was a little on guard though, as this was the first person she had traveled with, especially them being a male, though, that was unless it was Gray. As night darkened, the two of them hung around the fire, sleeping in their own bags. However, it was still hard for her to fall asleep without thinking about the situation. Rising up slightly, she looked over to see the dragonslayer sound asleep, looking as if he had no care in the world.

…[x]…

The next day rolled by as the two of them packed up their camping and started to head out to another unknown destination. With nothing but excitement of the unknown, though she couldn't help but wonder who or what they'd run into. A part of her began to imagine random scenarios of how every turn they'd make, or every new wild area they arrive in, somehow or someway she'd run into Gray, instilling happiness, yet also crushing it remembering the last time they encountered.

"Juvia thinks perhaps Juvia should have stayed in magnolia..." muttering to herself, she began to get slightly tipsy from not being able to sleep the night before.

Before her, the energetic dragonslayer was happily racing away with the exceed flying in the air beside him. It made her curious how he was able to be happy about not knowing what was going on, or where he was headed; based on just the pure excitement of the unknown. For her, however, it slightly began to terrify her. If she were to run into Gray all of a sudden, how would things go?

"...Eh?" snapping back from her thoughts, she realized that the dragonslayer and the exceed where nowhere to be found. Looking around, she turned to see if there was any trace before slightly worrying that the he had left her behind, alot like someone she knew.

Before she could make another assumption, a blue flying cat appeared as if out of nowhere and began fluttering his way towards her, "Juvia-" the exceed cried out before reaching her.

"Happy?" remembering that it was the exceeds name, she held out her hands to let the blue cat fall on top of and rest, "What's wrong?" asking him.

Resting, the little wings behind his back vanished, allowing the exceed to rest, "Phew..." relieved, he yawned a little before standing back up, "Oh... uh... why did I come here again?" blank, he began to wonder himself the reason behind his urgent calling.

Standing there a little confused, she looked a little pondering at the exceed herself, realizing that these two hung around with another because they were alike. That or some of Natsu's personality rubbed off onto him. During the moment she stood there, looking at the pondering cat, an explosion occurred, shaking the ground as a large burst of flames erupted in the middle of nowhere.

"oh, right!" snapping his fingers with a smile, "Natsu found a giant monster to fight and told me to go back to you so you don't get lost" casually telling her.

Shocked at the mention of what was happening, "What?!" it was shocking at how casual the cat was, "Wait... how big is this gia-"

Before she could finish the response a large reptile looking monster fell from the sky, completely burned. The size of the creature was large, roughly four times the height of an average lizardmen, with width to match. Closing in for a further inspection, the body slightly twitched, causing the two of them to jump as a reaction, only to find it was the result of the dragonslayer struggled to make his way out.

"Phew,... that was a pain" with a large smile, it was hard to take in the silliness of his expression with how serious the situation was, "Well I found us dinner!... or wait, Lunch" thinking to himself, he corrected the statement he had made.

Slightly irate she began throwing a little fit, inadvertently shaking the exceed within her grasp, "Why did you leave Juvia all by herself while fighting something so big on your own?" feeling slightly upset, "Juvia thought..." stopping herself, she was about to say that he had left her behind just as Gray had.

"Eh?" curious, he looked over at her cluelessly, "I did" saying, "I was like 'Juvia, Juvia! There's a giant monster over there so let's go fight it' but you were all dozy, passing in and out, right happy?" turning his attention then to the blue exceed.

With a smile, he threw up a thumbs up, "Aye!" agreeing with him, "Juvia was all 'Graayyyyy, what should Juvia do for you~' right Juvi-" while poorly imitating the water mage fawning over the ice maker, he was met with a sudden imprisonment of water, choking slightly before being released.

"Juvia was not" narrowing her gaze at the cat, "Juvia's just a little..." drawn back to the thoughts she's had, dropped her mood once more, suddenly causing the already constant rain to get worse.

…[x]…

As the day came to a close, the two of them continue to wander about, fighting with whatever came towards them and bringing it along with them in case they had wanted to eat. Whenever a large foe would cross their path, he always took it head on without standing to wait and plan how to take them down, even if he did spread the damage all over the place. Though, with the lack of sleep she had been getting, she was finding it more difficult by the day to keep up with the energetic dragonslayer.

"You okay, Juvia?" asking as he looked over at her while casually esting his head behind his head, "You keep zoning in and out..."

Yawning, she struggled to keep her eyes open, trying to keep herself from stumbling as they traced through the wild, "Juvia ish...fine" wearing in and out, blinking a couple of times, "It's just been a difficult night is all"

"Mmm..." mumbling over, he was curious about, noting she was still having trouble walking, "We should probably take a short break for noW" yawning large, he stretched, "Taking out those giant apes wore me out already" tired, he scratched he back of his head, looking like he was ready to pass out.

She had an idea that this was his way of letting her rest, knowing that she would probably continue to disagree if he had made it in the sense that she was the reason behind it. There wasn't an argument though. Even if she found it difficult to sleep, she had managed to rest without the worry of passing out on the ground. Even if it were just for a short moment, she could feel Natsu's presence around her as she continued to doze in and out. He was always looking out for her since the beginning of their travels.

For the longest time since she's joined Fairy Tail, she's never known much about the other members of Fairy Tail aside from Cana, who encouraged her to be strong and know that everyone loves her even if she was an ex-member of Phantom Lord, Gajeel, a former comrade from the same guild, and of course, Gray, whom she fought when she was once a member of the Elemental Four.

"Sorry, by the way if I offended you last night" saying out of nowhere, she shot up to see him snoozing on the grass, using his bag as a pillow. The blue exceed was out cold right next to him, "I don't say this often, but regardless of all the horrible things I say and do to Gray, he is one of my most trusted friends at the guild"

Thinking back, he must have been referring to the night before when she splashed water at him for possibly making a slight remark at Gray in front of her, "It's okay…" not knowing what else to say aside, "Juvia just,…she's just hopelessly in love with Gray,... and..."

"That's kind of what I mean though" saying once more, he kept up the guise of sleeping, "Sometimes,... you don't know what's going to happen, and what'll happen to those you're close to" recalling that moment he had felt he lost Lisanna, and then later his adoptive father, Igneel, his thoughts began to drift, "Well... I just think you're a great person, Juvia" grinning largely, he stretched once more before finding time to rest, "No matter your troubles, Fairy Tail is always going to be there for you, so don't feel you have to carry everything by yourself" raising up his hand, extending only his index and thumb out, "Don't forget"

The words he told her struck a chord, beginning to snap her out of her slight depression over what had happened. Perhaps she didn't need to fret or think of how to get over, but like he said, not handle everything on her own. For the past week, regardless of her behavior, he was always there with a brimming smile, ready to be there if she ever needed anything. Lying back down on the ground, looking up at the sky, she watched as the clouds parted, bringing to her a clear warm sky.

* * *

 **A/N: Well! That's the beginning *probably* of a short series. Sorry about the slight awkwardness, I wasn't sure how to go about this particular one because I'm not really skilled enough to "shove them" together xD. But as I continue this, if you've any suggestions lemme know, or if you want to leave your thoughts on how its done or should be, that works too! :) Well, even simple comments work too, either way! Till next submission! :D**


	2. A New Day

**Chapter II: A New Day**

* * *

As the morning sun rose up, she slowly stirred around in her sleeping bag from the visit of the sun. Resisting against the morning's wishes, she eventually gave in, yawning slightly before stretching and rising up out of bed. It had been a while since she's managed to get a good sleep, but after what Natsu had said before, if there was any moment she had a problem about her situation, she'd talk it out with him, even if it resulted in a usual splash of water after him saying so many insults about Gray. Though, as the day started anew, she rubbed her eyes sleepily, looking around to see the remains of their campfire. Somewhere around the fire she noticed that Natsu and Happy were still out cold, sleeping as usual.

"Well, now is Juvia's chance!" pumped up and full of vigor, she got out of her bag and snuck out of the campfire.

After a few weeks of roaming around the world, they had been pushing their way through the thick barren forest with hardly much for them to find. Usually their meals consisted of whatever the two of them slain up to then, cooking them over a fire after dragging them up to a point. That would usually mean that breakfast was whatever they could find early in the morning, or if there were any remains from the night before.

"Now,... what can Juvia make..." there weren't that many options considering their situation, but she was usually good with working with what she had using her skills as best as she could. "Hmm?" alert, she was brought to attention something shifting in the bushes around them, instinctively, she swiped at it, releasing thin blades of water at the voice before quickly inspecting it, "Hmm... Juvia thinks she can work with this" pondering slightly, looking at the dead creature.

Looking around, she gathered some other supplies around in the fields she felt she could use to enhance the creature she had slain. Traveling with the dragonslayer usually meant just cooked meat, which she didn't mind, but also that there was more than to just rely on eating on whatever they came across. Luckily, she was adept in knowing which plants and fruits were edible, and more importantly not poisonous, which allowed her to get used to living out in the world if it came to it.

Making her way back to the camp, she dragged the dead beast back alongside some herbs she found lying around the fields. Cooking was a slight issue since she didn't have much of a cooking ware, but luckily anticipating a situation like this, she had brought her own sort of pots and pans, simple things she thought would work on her journey in to the unknown. However, during her depression in the early start of their trip, she had pushed it aside and left everything involving food to the energetic dragonslayer.

"Thaaaaaaaatttttttt should do it" saying aloud to herself as she finished cooking the meal, "Juvia thinks she's done a great job" smiling bright to herself in a moment of pride; happy in the sense to be contributing after snapping out of her sense of dread.

Luckily, on point, the aroma from the food caught the attention of the salamander and the exceed, as the first sign of their waking up process involved them being attracted to the scent the food gave off. Even asleep, their hunger for something delicious was stronger than their need to rest.

"What smells so great?" mouth watering, Natsu was in a light trance as he was dragged out of his bed and made his way over.

With a small smile on her face, she scooped up the meal into a bowl and handed it to him, "Juvia made breakfast to start our trip" telling him, "Juvia... wondered what she could do to contribute, so Juvia thought breakfast would be a good way to start" her face dimming slightly in respect to her attitude beforehand.

"Well... It tastes amazing!" grinning with a large smile, "Man, if you've always cooked like this, I'm definitely jealous of Gray now" admitting with a clueless bright smile. However, it had taken a moment for him to realize that he probably brought up a bad subject while making an attempt to congratulate her for her hard work, "W-Well... I mean-" not wanting to get her down again.

The little cat beside him, Happy, caught wind of the situation, "Natssuuuu, you big meanie, you're going to make her cry again!" in an attempt to scold him.

"It wasn't my fault!" getting into an argument with the exceed, "Well,... it kind of was,... definitely, but still an earnest accident!"

However, even though her heart had tinged just a little from that reminder, she kept up a small smile, even if it were forced, "It's all right" assuring him "D-Do you really mean it though?" slightly embarrassed.

"Definitely!" ecstatic, the young dragonslayer assured with a large grin, "Just the thing get me through the day" saying as he ate the rest of the food, even asking for more if it were possible.

After they had finished, she began to feel better about being praised like that while putting away the few supplies she brought. It had taken her a while to get through the slight depression she was feeling, and although it wasn't completely gone, she would do her best to focus on the things on hand. Packing up their sleeping gear, the three of them continued to set off on their adventure onto the next thing that would cross their paths

...[x]...

After a while of traveling the two of them came across a group of wild Vulcan's all huddled in a group. From his experience in fighting them, he told her that these Vulcan's were oddly far stronger due to the rough climate these live in, at least he had assumed based on their large tougher appearance. Logically, she had figured that the two of them were going to turn back and go another route, but by the time she had finished the thought and went to relay the idea to Natsu, the pink-haired dragonslayer was already inching his way closer to the beasts, leaving his traveling bag beside her.

"What is he-...?!" shocked by his behavior, Juvia staggered for a bit, feeling slightly intimidated by the group of creatures that were lurking in the area.

Slowly, bit by bit, she had noticed he was taking a moment to survey the situation; even he was hesitant in dealing with all of them at once. However, she had the feeling that he also couldn't turn down a challenge like this, as he wouldn't have approached any other way. Slowly, as the group of Vulcan's gathered, they caught wind of something, noted by their more alert behavior. Suddenly, they grew more violent, making noise and slamming their fists against the ground, breaking the ground with every impact.

Taking a breath, he leapt over where he was hiding behind, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" saying, as he breathed a massive stream of flames into their direction. Thinking quickly, he planned to set fire to anything that could be lit.

He has used the flames as a distraction as he leapt forward, charging headfirst into the battle. There were three,...four,... five of them all together in a group, rampaging due to the presence of the dragonslayer. Watching, she was surprised how agile he was, even if the strength behind each of their punches needed both hands, and even then pushed him back a foot each time.

"..." biting the tip of her thumb, she knew that the chances the two of them could escape were slim, but, "Juvia,... can't just sit here" Even if she felt she would regret it, she too, dropped her traveling back and made a run for it to assist her traveling companion.

Natsu, who was dodging each of the Vulcan's strikes just barely, looked at the reaction the Vulcan's gave, and caught wind that Juvia was heading his way. He wasn't sure what she was planning to do, but just as the Vulcan's were conscious about it, he took the window of opportunity to take down at least one of them before having to take on the rest.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art - Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" his body was then engulfed by a large ferocious fire, focusing as well around his fists. Tightening his fists, he quickly punched the chest of the Vulcan, before unleashing a fury of punches, each causing a mini explosion upon impact. He could feel his breath shortening as he continued to push himself further the closer he felt his limit being reached. However, he failed to recognize the other one that bum rushed him, knocking him out of the way, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" as a final strike, he inhaled a great amount of before spewing out a massive wall of flames, working as both offense and defense, and dealing even more damage to the near death Vulcan.

Before he hit the ground, Juvia had skipped through, hydroplaning through to act as a barrier that broke his fall, "Juvia's here to assist!" announcing as she came to a stop. "Water Cyclone!" holding both her hands out, a large vicious torrent of water in the shape of a cyclone and crashed against three of the Vulcan's, the damaged one included.

"Juvia, keep it up!" asking her, he stood up despite wobbling a little, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" unlike before, he took in a deeper breath before holding his hands out, cupped in front of the other in front of his mouth. Putting full power into it, he released a large violent burst of flames in the same direction.

The combination of Juvia keeping a constant pressure of water on the beasts, coupled with the high temperature intensity of Natsu's flames, caused the water to drastically increase in temperature, doing more damage to the beasts with their powers combined. After a short while, the beasts were defeated, leaving just the other two that had difficulty making their way over with all the water around them.

"Just... two more" slightly worn from having to dodge and endure all the hits from the Vulcan's earlier, Natsu kept an eye, "Juvia, do you think you can handle it?" passing off a slight smirk, despite being focused on the remaining enemies, who looked as if they were ready to go berserk.

Although she understood it wasn't meant to take to heart, "Juvia is slightly insulted you think Juvia isn't ready" answering him, ready to take on the two.

"Heh..." chuckling just a little, "Let's see if you can keep up then! 'cause I'm definitely getting fired up!" on cue, he ignited both of his hands on fire, keeping both of them sitting in a blaze of fire.

As if a race, the two of them sped off to collide with the remaining Vulcan's. She had wanted to see the face he was making, wondering what kind of thoughts goes through his head when tackling such huge obstacles without any assurance of pushing through. Amidst her own fight, she could hear and partially see his own battle, throwing all he had to offer without hesitation. With the rampaging Vulcan's throwing all its strength, her heart began to beat faster with adrenaline, knowing that she couldn't afford too many mistakes.

...[x]...

The battle was soon eventually won, leaving the two of them exhausted and slightly sore from the rush of the battle. They were beaten all over, worn and torn, and she heard Natsu swearing that half his body must be broken. Happy, the little exceed who kept watch over their things came fluttering down with Juvia's hat, which had fallen during the course of the finishing battle. Worn, feeling her breath grow harder to come by, a certain excitement filled her despite the condition she was in. During the entire mess, she didn't think that the two of them were going to pull through, but somehow that fuel was what made the battle thrilling. Her muscles and body aching, she slowly began to understand the purpose behind him journeying.

"Juvia has to admit..." she began to say, slowly out of breath, "Juvia didn't think we were going to make it out after all that"

Beside her, Natsu was just as exhausted, having spent a lot of his magic as well in a battle of strength and endurance, "Well.., as soon as I regain the feeling back into my arms, how about I fetch us some well deserved food to celebrate?" managing to smile despite how exhausted he was.

"Juvia thinks... she should help" admitting with a light smile, "Perhaps then, Juvia can teach Natsu more efficient cooking ways, as long as..." stopping herself short, she felt a bit awkward finished the sentence.

Curious, he passed her a slight glance, "Eh...? as long as what?" asking her with a clueless look on his face.

"...Juvia can teach Natsu, as long as Natsu will keep Juvia around" finishing what she had meant, "Juvia,... doesn't want to be alone again"

Looking it over, it took him a while to connect the pieces. Namely, that if she were to teach Natsu how to cook, he would probably leave her behind, or to some extent, she'd probably lose her sense of purpose or way she could contribute. Though, "Eh?... I don't see why I would tell you to go or something" earnestly telling her with a slight baffled look, "You're my friend, so of course you're free to continue tagging around. I ain't gonna force you to leave or stay" grinning largely to her.

To her, she could tell he was just a simple person saying simple words, but in contrast, she couldn't help but feel a bit more welcomed. For the moment, she decided to rest back on the ground, resting until the two of them managed to regain more strength to pitch camp for the day.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter 2! Woah :O But yeah, I was sleeping about wondering and planning it all. Normally this chapter was going to be something entirely different! xO *gasp* but after thinking it out, this is the chapter you get xD. I was kind of off... Well...primarily 'cause I'm not used to writing fight scenes. There's a strange debate, like, should one be descriptive and slow? or vague and simple? Perhaps a bit of both? Either way I apologize for the kind of off written fight scene, I promise to do better next time! (And maybe Natsu will use more than 2 different spells) Or well... I don't know, draw it all out like stick figures and post links :3. Welp! What's going to happen next timmeeee? :O uhh...besides the NaVia...y'know... 'cause its a NaVia fic...and all...*cough* take care! R &R if you have any thoughts or suggestions x)**


	3. Bonding

**Chapter III: Bonding**

* * *

With the passing days, Juvia found herself a new sort of daily routine she would do every morning and evening. Just as the two of them woke up for the day, she would go along with Natsu out into the wild to search for more food. There, she would slowly help teach him each of the plants and fruits that were there that were edible and not poisonous. Strangely, she began to find great joy in being able to impart what she knew about all the types that were good to eat, how to cook it, and especially the different ways they could be used. It was one of the rare few things about her that people would ask her; then again, this was one of the rare few times she had stayed away from Gray for so long. A lot of her time spent outside was chasing Gray, leaving this to be a rare moment for her.

"Natsu!" Juvia called out as she calmly began to wash the plants and fruits, cutting them neatly, "Are you making sure you're not overcooking the meat again?" hoping that this time he wouldn't burn their food. Lately, ever since she got him interested in cooking meals she's had to make sure he didn't overcook the food, as roasting things to the point they were almost burnt was how he'd cook their meals. Last time, he had accidentally added another bit of flames to the intensity, burning their meal slightly.

Trying to contain his excitement, the dragonslayer fidgeted as he watched the animal meat cook, "It's all fine!" assuring her, trying to keep himself from the temptation of adding more flames to the fire, "Just,... Just a little..."

"Natsu secretly made it hotter~" Happy, the little exceed exposed with a fiendish joking look on his face.

Feeling his vein pop, Natsu was slightly upset that Happy easily outed him like that, "Oi! Don't go telling her! I thought we were friends!" frustrated a bit, "That's it, get over here!" In a joking comical manner the dragonslayer chased the flying cat all over the place, lightly letting loose a bit of flames from his mouth.

Watching, Juvia caught a gaze of the dragonslayer playing around with his companion as she finally finished cleaning and clipping the plants so that they could eat it. "Phew,... Juvia's done a good job" wiping the sweat from her forehead. Lately, it was slightly difficult, as some of the places they had been were a little more barren than some of the other places, making it difficult to determine what was edible. "Now all that's left is..."

"Aaahhhhh,...Juvia!" crying aloud, the exceed rushed over to her, hiding behind her, "Natsu is a meanie~ He singed a bit of my fur!" pointing blame to the slightly baffled salamander.

Being forced to go out all in one place, Natsu let himself go a little wild in one spot as he didn't want to accidentally catch Juvia on fire too, "Hey! That's no fair, Happy!" feeling a little cheated, "You can't just run over to Juvia when you're losing!"

"Now, Natsu" she began to speak directly to him, "No more rough-housing, breakfast is almost done" telling him, "Bring Juvia the meat that you roasted so we can eat" asking him sincerely, "Careful, if you burn it again this time, Juvia's going to have to..." passing on an intimidating grin, she made it seem like she was going to place him in a water dome if he prolonged it any more.

Slightly unsure whether she was joking or not, Natsu stopped in place, smiling a little nervously while saluting her casually, "Yes Ma'am!" cheerfully making his way off to the fire. "One cooked boar coming right up!"

Not able to keep it up, Juvia let out a slight giggle breaking her slight joke of a murderous persona. Whether it was how he acted towards her little joke that made it happen, or how casually indifferent he normally was that he could still be playful, either way, she had to admit there was a large friendly aura that came from him. It was strange, it was like he always made an attempt to make a good thing out of a situation that was probably unfavorable, and push through no matter what. In fact, the more she spent time with him, the longer she began to feel the same desire to push through her own troubles.

"Natsu,...! Where's the meat?" realizing that she slightly spaced out, "A...Aahh! You better not be eating it!"

Startled, he fumbled the roasted boar around, "I wasn't!" Feeling a little taken by surprise, "I just thought,... It could use a little more of a cooking job" smiling large.

Looking at him, her eyes slightly closed halfway as she noticed that the boar he was slowly roasting was probably a little more cooked than she had wanted. Sighing, she couldn't help but realize she wasn't so surprise something like this had happened. As he happily brought it along, the cheerful grin of his always made it slightly hard for her to reprimand him for not following the instructions she had specified. Carefully, she waited for him to throw it in the air before forming and drenching her hand in water before quickly whisking it across, unleashing thin blades of water that easily cut up the meat, releasing a quick bout of steam from the recently roasted boar.

"Breakfast's up!" excited, the young salamander leapt into the air to retrieve all the neatly cut pieces of meat before coming back down, "Aww man I can't wait to eat!"

Seeing that he was already impatient, she quickly rushed over with the exceed still held onto the back of her shoulder, "Don't forget to eat your veggies and fruits first!" lecturing him a little, "Meat will only get you so far when you're out here" reminding him how much they he had to stop by and cook during the course of the journey.

"Huh?" just now hearing her, he looked up at her with his face already stuffed to the brim of food. Standing there, she had handed him a cloth full of some plants and fruits she found with him, insisting that he take the time to properly eat. Taking the time to chew and swallow, he sat there with the entire meal consumed, picking up bits of the plants she prepared, "This is,..."

Placing the cloth of food on the ground, she sat on her knees as she began to explain, "That one is Burdock" telling him, "The leaves and peeled stalks are edible, but since its usually bitter, Juvia boils them a couple times to make it easier to eat, go on, taste it"

"O-Ookay..." slightly taken back, he took a piece of the leaves and popped it into his mouth, beginning to chew, surprised on how tasty it was, "woah! This is great" excited, he popped in another one, feeling a little dazed in how good it was.

Smiling, she then picked up another item off the cloth, "This one is chicory" telling him, "Unlike burdock, you can actually eat the entire thing, and-"

"Well... that's nice and all, but..." interrupting her, Natsu had popped a piece of meat into her mouth, "I don't really feel comfortable being the only one eating here" smiling a bit large despite how guilty he felt for doing so.

Having food suddenly stuffed into her mouth caught her off guard, making it a little hard for her to shift into eating after trying to talk and explain to him the different kind of plants there were. Sitting there, she simply passed an upset look at him as she chewed through her food. To her surprise, however, she found that the way he cooked it was better than the wild trial and error he had been doing for a while. Though, considering she was helping with the cutting, she had assumed the intense heat inside was able to balance it out with the hot steam created from the water slice spell.

"That was mean, Natsu!" comically, she began to hit him not stop with both her hands as a means to get back at what he did, "Juvia could have choked!" as annoyed as she was, she didn't to admit to him that the way he cooked it was far better than she had imagined, thinking he must have been experimenting every now and then to find the best timing to cook them.

He could only laugh at it though, chuckling with a kind look on her face, "But, I'm just happy to see you're finally doing better" scratching his cheek with a warm grin.

"Eh?" confused, she stopped in her comical assault and looked at him curiously, "What does Natsu mean?" taken back slightly.

Pondering, he sat there with a contemplative look, "Well... It's like... err..." struggling a little, it took him a while to figure out what it was he was trying to say, until he snapped his fingers, knowing what it was he was getting at, "You just seem more 'alive' is all" mentioning to her, "Not that it was a problem before,.. but..." again, his way with words was interfering with his actual intent, "So to say,... it's been even more enjoyable having someone along with me during this journey being this active" smiling.

Even unsure with that Natsu was saying, Happy threw himself in a doubtful pondering pose, "Natsu's started not to make sense again" murmuring aloud, "I think he's finally cracked from being out here too long and away from civilization~"

It was strange. Of course she had realized the huge difference in her behavior since the beginning of her trip, but there was also something that she hadn't realized. She didn't know exactly why Natsu was here, or why he was doing what it was he is. For all she knew, he was just travelling around the world and he picked her up because he felt she needed to get out and see what the world had to offer. To him, he probably saw her as friend who needed time away from everything to take a step back and get a breath of fresh air.

"Say, umm... Natsu?" she asked, feeling a little embarrassed, "Juvia... was,...Juvia was curious about why you are so far away from Magnolia" pondering, "You never seem to have a clear destination in mind; always seemingly just going where there's places to go" stating from what she observed.

The kind smile she was always used to see had slowly vanished as he put him into deep thought. "Well... there's no easy way to say this" he began to tell her, "But I want,... no" stopping himself short to correct, "I _need_ to get stronger" admitting to her, "After what happened with Tartaros, I realized how much stronger I need to get if I'm going to ever finish what Igneel started…" telling her, "So if I'm going to do that, I need to see what extremes the world has to offer and throw at me, and... other than that..." she watched as he grabbed his right arm subtly. He remembered how he needed to defeat Zeref and whatever E.N.D. was, and the power he needed to master in order to do so.

"Juvia understands" cutting him off, she realized it must have been a hard subject for him to talk about as the face he was making reminded her of how she used to be, "But, Natsu" calling out to him, "Remember what you told Juvia... Fairy Tail is always going to be there for you, so don't feel you have to carry everything by yourself" as he looked over to her, he noticed that with a smile, she had the back of her right hand facing him with her index and thumb extended out.

Taken back slightly by how she chose to respond to him shocked him slightly, especially getting fed the words he had told her already. It was a feeling that no matter where you were, there was always someone looking over you, even if you didn't know it. It was strange, feeling a wave of nostalgia wipe over him as he remembered the feeling he got from when he first joined Fairy Tail. And at the same time, it amplified the reasons why he was out here to begin with. He wanted to protect the people he cared about, being strong enough to fend off anything that threatened his family. Looking at her smile reminded of the reasons he set out on this journey.

"You're right, Juvia" stretching, he stepped up, "Ahhh! I'm burning with energy from this anticipation" making attempt to loosen his arms, "Aahhh... I could use a light spar session, what do you think? Wanna be my partner?" eyeing her a little sly, full of confidence.

It was addictive the amount of vigor he possessed. Seeing him all intense and fired up slowly began to rub off onto her as she too began to feel pumped up and full of energy. "Yes!" inspired by his fierce energy, she rose from her spot, feeling pumped, "This way, Juvia can get stronger too!" however, slowly her high powered state slowed, "But first, Natsu, let's finish our meal" kindly reminding him the meal they worked a good point to making.

"A-Ah... right" sheepishly smiling, he scratched the back of his head before sitting back down, "Let's eat, **THEN** have a fiery battle!"

With that, the two of them came to a mutual agreement to have their sparring match after eating their breakfast. As they ate, the two of them often talked to another about the other types of food Juvia has made, and how she explained the other kind of plants are eaten. However, she had to take time from her explanation to stop him and Happy from fighting, using her water magic here and there to separate the two or to get them to stop fighting. It had always been like this the passing month, but she couldn't complain. Deep down, she figured this was the kind of adventure she needed.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay chapter 3 is done :O this is actually probably the easiest for me to update considering how less stressful it is, but at the same time there's always concern about repetitive something can be. Another problem for both things i've been working on is that I WANT THEM TO BE TOGETHER ALREADY but my brain's like "NO, build them up because you fail" or something like that. Anywho, I don't think this is gonna be too long maybe? I dunno, i'll just guess. Also, I kind of wanted to just have them explore more than just go "oh... they walked here... and did stuff" I dunno, I don't know what's going to happen **coughasidefromobviousNaViacough** but the future me does! ahahahah..ahah..hah...ha... okay, please let me know what you think! :3 Anything I can improve on? What do you think is going to happen? What liesss at the end of their journey :O (or rather how much should I show) dun dun dunnnn~ **Darkness out****


	4. Realization

**Chapter IV: Realization**

* * *

It was suggested by Natsu that the two of them would begin sparring in the earlier mornings, testing each other's strengths and weaknesses. They've had a running bet that the loser of the mock battles would have to be the one to make breakfast under the winner's instructions with no arguing or complaints about how they want their meal to be done. For Natsu, there was no way he felt he could lose the mock battles, as Juvia was as strict in the method of her cooking as she was slippery to defeat in battle. This didn't do him any good, as most of his attacks were physical and just magically enhanced, which could easily phase through her.

Swift, Natsu weaved his way through the blades of water she would throw at him with slight precision. Every now and then a bit of the blade would knick him, but it wasn't too terrible. "Water Cyclone!" Juvia would muster, unleashing a vicious pressurized torrent of water at him.

"Fire Dragon's,... Roar!" seeing the attack coming head on, he gathered a large amount of magic into his mouth and spewed a stream of intense flames to clash with Juvia's attack.

The temperature in the area soon began to drastically rise; mixed from the heat Natsu was releasing to meet Juvia's head on, as well as the sudden increase in temperature. He had to be careful, because if he let loose a little too little, the water would just be boiled, and if a little too much, he could seriously hurt his friend. Luckily, the collision of forces resulted in a constant production of a mist of steam into the area, taking that moment to quickly slip away from the attack to close in on her. Although, he picked up a swift presence being thrown at him through the thick steam, prompting him to dodge anywhere he felt was safe.

"W-what was that,..." thinking to himself as he kept still, listening. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art- Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist !" his fists igniting on fire, he aimed towards the presence, feeling something slimy upon impact just before the explosion from his spell took effect, "...!" again, the same feeling lurked, dodging something similar.

He was stuck, having to deal with something slimy attacking him in the steam. Not only that, but the steam had been getting to him too, tiring him out more and making it difficult for him to breathe. Whether or not Juvia was affected by this, may it be good or bad, crossed his thoughts, wondering if he could use this to his advantage. Luckily, the steam was starting to lessen, all he had to do was buy enough time until the steam dissipated, and he could finish the match with Juvia.

Eventually, he was caught by two slimy things constricting around his body "No chance, this is cheap but,..." controlling his breathing slightly as best he could, he relaxed his body, "Fire Dragon's Roasting Bath!" immediately tensing himself, flames erupted around him, shrouding himself in burning hot flames.

"-Ahh!" he heard a scream of pain just before the watery tentacles around him released him, and the steam finally vacated the area.

As he finally relaxed, releasing the spell, he caught his breath as he noticed Juvia was on the ground, doing her best to cover her scalding hands in water from the pressure. Realizing that she was the one behind the attacks in the steam, as well as the receiving end of the heat spell, he began to run up towards her, "J-Juvia!" calling out to her, concerned for her well being. It wasn't his intention to have hurt her this much, as he didn't think the sudden increase in raising the water temperature would have affected her this bad, "A-Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" lowering himself to see what he could do.

"Y-Yes... there's something you can do for Juvia..." her breath ragged, as if the steam was having a worse affect on her, "You can just... Water Lock!" instantly, she threw her hand out towards him, as a sphere of water engulfed him, trapping him in there with no oxygen to breathe. "Hehehe... Juvia wins this round again, right Nat-..." just as she was gloating slightly over her victory, she had realized that she was starting to suffocate the pink-haired dragonslayer who was beginning to drown by this point.

Immediately, she had released him, catching him as he fell so that he could regain his senses once more. Coughing up water, "I lost... again,... didn't I?" asking her as he tried to regain his composure after nearly drowning.

"S-Sorry, Natsu" guilty, she apologized, hitting his back with just enough force to draw out all the water in his system, "Juvia should have stopped it just when you ran out of air,...instead of, you know,..." her expression began to fall slightly, thinking about how dangerous the situation could have been otherwise.

Relieved being able to breathe at a normal pace, he let himself tumble to the side to relax, "Nah,... don't be" assuring her with a light smile, "I should be the one sorry" stating, "Which reminds me,... let me see your hands real quick" remembering what had happened earlier. Sitting up, he faced her direction and gently grabbed her hands. Carefully, he was sure to make sure there wasn't too much pressure as he gently felt around her hand, testing how hot it was, "It seems all right,... thankfully your entire body is water so it must have dampened the damage" relieved, "You go tend to it, all right? I'll make breakfast as per our usual agreement" sheepishly grinning, "First off, getting the materials!" standing up quick, "What would you like, Miss Juvia?"

"H-Heh?" taken back by his sudden action, she fell back a little, "M-Maybe some fresh fruits and the plants I told you about?" throwing an idea out.

Mulling over what she had been teaching him, he threw himself into deep thought trying to remember it. Eventually, his eyes burst open in a sudden jolt, as if he just remembered, "Ah, got it!" hitting the bottom of his fist onto his open palm, "Happy! We're going food gathering!" shouting out to the little exceed sleeping.

"E-eh..." stumbling around, Happy stirred in his sleep before tiredly getting up, "Natsu lost again didn't he?" hitting the nail on his friend, "Finee~" stretching, he popped out his little wings and flew over to him as the two of them went venturing out for food.

Watching, Juvia sat there tending to the light burns on her hands in a sphere of cool water produced by her Water Lock, as she waited for Natsu to come back with the foods she requested as per their agreement. However, something had occupied her mind for the moment as she kept her eyes fixated on her hands submerged in the water. Recalling how he held her hands, even if it were brief and just to inspect, sent a strange feeling cycling through her. Natsu was her kind friend, who took her in to help her forget what happened. Thinking along that line, she had believed that she was likely taken back by just how cooperative he was; not trying to weasel his way out or try anything funny like usual.

-[x]-

Just like he promised, Natsu cooked and cut breakfast under the watchful gaze of Juvia, who instructed him the right boiling time and temperature, as well as making sure that he cut the right parts. Without complaining, he did as he was told, much unlike how it first started out with him adding his own preferences instead of taking heed of her guide. Her hands were much better, leaving only a slight sting every so often, a sign that she just had to take it easy for a day or so. Luckily, he was kind enough to help her if needed. Whether it was cleaning up the messes or repacking her things, he offered if she needed any assistance before the two of them continued along on their journey.

The longer the two of them traveled, he caught a scent in the air, and as he did, she also saw something catching her eye. "Natsu" calling out to catch his attention, "Juvia sees something!" running up a little ahead, she pointed up at the smoke, rising in the air. She wasn't sure what could be up ahead, "Should we follow it?" turning to ask him.

"Hmm..." trying to mull the scent a little, "I think we better" telling her, "That doesn't smell like your average every day smoke" he couldn't pin point it, but there was something about it that turned him the wrong way, "Either way, let's be on our guard" advising her.

Again, he couldn't place his finger on it, but he felt there was something strange about this part of the place they were in. He caught something's scent, but no matter where he looked, without being obvious to scare Juvia; it felt like they were being watched.

Eventually, the two of them found their way into a village, small of course to be in the wild, but also fairly big probably accommodating 20-30 people. Everywhere they looked people gave them terrifying eyes, hiding behind either their stores or in their homes as the two carefully made their way in. Startled just from the atmosphere, she felt her skin lightly crawl like something haunting was possessing this place, and that their presence lightly made things worse.

"Over there!" she cried pointing out. A short ways away she found the source of the smoke, a burning stand that was trailing onto some of the homes. Running up a little closer, she swung her arm out towards the burning flames, "Sierra!" pausing for a moment, her body instantly turned to water as she rushed over in a small tidal wave and doused the flames, reforming as the water collected onto the ground, "Is everyone okay?" rushing in to see a terrified father and son, "It's okay to come out now, Juvia saved the day" smiling bright.

Timidly, the two of them made their way out, shaking from the shock of the fire "T-Thank you, M-Miss..." the supposed father had said, helping the son out of the place.

"What happened here?" asking, she slowly helped them out, "was there an accident?"

Shaking his head, the father spoke, "N-No..." answering her question, "You s-see,... this village is under the ownership of the 'Thunder god tribe'" he began to explain, "My son made a comment about how thoughtless they were being and in their anger, struck our stand and home with lightning!"

"Juvia..." hearing her name, she turned to see Natsu with a slightly dark look on his face, "I think we have company"

Turning to look past him, she saw what he had meant. Entering were three mages, two guys and a girl with slight barbaric looking armor. They had snarky looks on their face as they were looking around, expecting something as people finally ran up to them with some sort of offering. From the looks of it, they seemed like they were mages that belonged to one of the scattered Dark Guilds at the least, or a group of bandits that ransack villages of all they have to offer before burning it to the ground when it's of no use.

She could see the anger plastered on his face, but she couldn't figure out what caused his expression to grow furious. "Keep these people safe, Juvia" he asked of her, dropping his bag and cracking his knuckles, "I'm starting to get fired up" as if it weren't noticeable already, light flames began to flare out of his body. "This was probably the presence I felt earlier" thinking to himself, "It was like they were using this place to bait us".

"Not by yourself" she urged, "There's three of them, Natsu" telling him, "What more this village is too small, we could end up destroying it if you were to go head on by yourself. Please, let Juvia accompany you" changing the deal, "Juvia too, would like to 'talk' to these people"

He couldn't argue with her, or rather, he felt there was no real gain to be starting an argument right here when the threat was already here. Whether he liked it or not, she dropped her bag and followed closely beside him, keeping a firm awareness of the people around them so that she could keep track and control her movements and power when she'd need to. Though, she would be lying if she didn't feel the slight worried for her companion, who looked like he was going to blow the entire place off the map alongside the mages.

"These fruits aren't even edible yet!" the biggest one shouted, smashing the offering to the ground, "This will be the last time your village disgraces us! Dos, shock this town off the map" ordering the female amongst them.

Nodding, just as she threw her hand out towards the village, a torrent of water in the shape of a cycle was immediately shot towards the mage. Baffled, by what happened, the other two immediately looked towards the source of the attack only for the dragonslayer to appear in a flash, round-housing them away before turning a full rotation and crashing his fist into the remaining one, knocking them into the ground. Burning, she felt the aura of a raging dragon surrounding him as his rage began to drastically rise by the moment.

"Juvia! Take care of the mage!" telling her, "I'll fight these chumps" his fists began to ignite on fire, "The ones who _dare_ to dirty the name 'Thunder God Tribe'"

She had wanted to change the offer, but she had realized that the primary reason he had chosen to do it this way was because he was going to handle them head on, and had the strength to pull it off. "Juvia understands!" agreeing, she sped on, hydroplaning towards the female mage, Dos.

It was a tricky battle fighting the lightning mage, as any strike could end up not favoring her in the least. Swerving around, the two exchanged blasts of their own element, water from Juvia, and lightning from Dos. She was lucky in the sense that her experience fighting Natsu gave her a slight more reaction time and light foresight as he was always proved to be tough as well as agile in their little mock fights. However, there was also the issue of the surrounding villages who cowered in fear from all the fighting. Thinking, she realize if there wasn't going to be opening for her to quickly take out Dos, she would have to create one herself.

"Water cane!" throwing her arm towards her, it instantly turned into a liquid extension of her own that easily latched onto Dos' leg during the preparation of their spell.

Quickly, Juvia swung her whip-like arm to the side to toss Dos before she had a chance to send electricity throughout her body and towards Juvia. Observing as she tumbled against the ground, crashing up against the walls of one of the houses, she could faintly seeing Natsu go on a slight rampage, taking hits and dishing out his own damage while trying to avoid the villagers. The rage he displayed burned his flames hotter, making everywhere in the surrounding area heat up drastically.

"Juvia needs to at least incapacitate them" cringing a little, she, while Dos was stumbling a little from the added damage, threw her hand out "Water Lock!" casting, as a dome of water surrounded the lightning mage and keeping her there. She had to keep an eye, concentrating as to make sure she didn't accidentally kill her while keeping her in this.

Unfortunately, keeping her concentration set on the spell, keeping her contained and simultaneously waiting until she fell unconscious, she was struck by another lightning spell from one of the other two, before being rammed into by one of the big built mages, crashing into the building. Her body was growing unstable from the electricity as well as the pain of something having pierced her paralyzing her. Stumbling, she tried to move as much as possible, only to be struck more with electricity as she tried, and further hindering her movement. Watching, Dos had gotten up, likely preparing a spell on her complete immovable being. However, just as she saw a bright flash, she had also noticed something stood in the way, taking in the blow.

"H...oi... what do you think you're doing,... to my friend?" she heard. His voice was ragged and worn, and as she slowly began to be able to see more of whom it was, she noticed Natsu was there, taking the blow for her. "Juvia... are you,... okay?" asking her, knowing she was still there and conscious. He was trembling, but she could also see that the other three were slowly moving in on him now that both of them were beaten and ragged, "You have no idea,... how angry it makes me... when you hurt the people I care for!" His body then exploded in a burst of flames and electricity, shocking those around him. "Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer!" his fist and forearm engulfed in intense flames, cackling with electricity, he charged forward with it held back, aiming at Dos.

Just between them, one of the large men jumped in the way, confident in their ability to tank the shot. However, as Natsu took into the changed account of another person to fight, he threw his fist forward in a blinding flash, sinking his fist into the chest of the tall mage, ferociously crashing into Dos as the two were blown away to who knows where. However, that was all Natsu had in him before falling to his knees, out of magic power and stamina.

"Ju...via" calling out to her, "Get,... away! There's st-" taken by surprise, they had forgotten the third member, who had struck him once more with lightning, dropping him to the ground, twitching as electric static crawled all over his body.

Watching him fall to the ground like that caused her eyes to constrict as a scene of slight horror began to befall her. Footsteps from the remaining mage thumped loud, as she watched him pick up the pink-haired dragonslayer by the neck. She had to do something, and it only began to frustrate her that her body wouldn't move like she wanted, until, she began to imagine. Where would that smile be if she couldn't move and do something? The glass mirror image began to crack before shattering into dust, as something in her snapped.

"Water-Make: Revitalize" suddenly all the water in the village, and any surrounding bodies of water swarmed above to crash into her, flooding the village temporarily as she was able to stand once more, "Water-Make: Bullet Hell" the water that wasn't used to remake her body formed into large orbs before shooting themselves off slowly, one by one, at the mage. Each bullet had the force to forcefully push him back, until he finally let go of the pink-haired dragonslayer. Then, the bullets fired faster, flying off just as they formed until countless shots were fired, pelting him with a force slowly increasing.

Slowly, she began to feel like her old self back when she was in the guild Phantom Lord, as rain began to heavily fall. As the pelting of bullets continued without cease, she raised one of her hands slowly, engulfing the mage in a more contained version of her Water Lock, keeping her hand fixated to keep the man stuck. Slowly, she began to clench her hand, increasing the pressure of the water, so that she wasn't only suffocating him, but also crushing him with the water. Watching, she noticed him gasp out for air while also screaming in pain from the slowly increasing water pressure.

"Juvia..." snapping out of her mode, she felt someone fall against her from behind. She watched as a beaten arm slowly reached their way up parallel against hers, "...Stop" grabbing onto her gently, lowering her arm down to let the mage go.

Soon, the water ceased, as the man panicked and made a run for it, screaming out of fear of almost dying in two different ways. The remaining water fell to the ground and was absorbed by the soil. Still, the fear clung to her heart now, as she was remembering the cold chill she once felt before everything had changed. The rain then began to worsen, showering the entire place in what would turn into a flash flood if it wasn't gotten rid of quickly.

"Juvia... Juvia's so sorry,..." fearing what she had done. She was ashamed of herself, for having fallen that low, for reverting slowly to her old ways.

Falling to the ground, she still felt his presence latched onto her, probably too worn and battered to leave. "It's fine..." telling her, breathing a little tiresome, "You're back though right,...? That's all that matters..." growing tired, his body grew heavier on her, "Long as,... you're back... it's okay,... Juvia"

It wasn't fair. She had wanted to cry for the error of her ways, but he had already assured her that it was okay as long as she was still back to her senses. He wasn't angry with her, he wasn't upset. All that mattered was that she was able to snap herself out of it and regain control over herself again. Slowly, the rain around her began to cease once more, having put out any fires that were made during the fight. As the two of them sat there in their slightly bitter victory, his arm lightly around her body to comfort her, that strange feeling once more began to surface within her. Natsu was just her friend, that's what she believed in. Natsu was just her friend. Right?

* * *

 **A/N: OH MY GOD ITS DONE. Seriously this took longer than intended Lol. Anywho! What do all these things mean?! (Ask me what it means, Ask me what it means~~~~) How was the fight overdosed steroid of a chapter? I thought it was okay, then again I thought what I wrote when I was 13 was utterly fantastic at the time so what do I know. xD. So yeah, new spells made up... anyone have thoughts on it? Should I just stick with already named spells? I wondered too like "Wouldn't it have just been easily for Natsu to lightning dragon mode and use his super roar?) but then that would be worse,... I think. Taking out half the village,... and super out of juice. Anywho! I felt Juvia was super cool... I mean, both she and Natsu got knocked out, and the both knocked other people out... and I dunno it's like... Anywho i'll shut up, you already had to read all this ;). Pleaase let me know what you thought, if i need to improve anywhere is also helpful. Or you can just comment going "YEAH! NAVIA" that works too. I wonder what's going to happen?! will they just be,...SUPER BESTIES?! we'll see :Grin: ;;;;) -Darkness outttt-**


	5. Conflicted Heart

**Chapter V: Conflicted Heart**

* * *

Things have been a mixture of stressful and fear for the young water mage as she continued to journey with the dragonslayer. It was all fun and games, having a new experience and find herself to be able to breathe without the thoughts of the thinking of her beloved Gray, or things that would remind him of her. But lately, something strange was coursing through her the closer she got to the Salamander. Looking at her hand, she remembered the feeling she felt when he held them lightly, the feeling of him gently pressed against her when she had lost all reasoning. For some reason, her heart began to tinge, and her face with burst with warmth that coursed through her body. No, she knew this feeling, but she herself didn't want to admit it. It was a mistake.

"Juviaaaa!" calling out to her, catching her off guard he turned to face her, "You okay?" asking her, "Why're you so far away?"

She was a good few feet away from him, knowing that she would just begin to act strange and unsettled around if she were to go in closer, "J-Juvia's fine" assuring him with a nervous smile and light wave, "A-Are you sure you should be running with injuries like that?" asking him earnestly.

She too was having a slight difficulty moving as easily since the battle in the village, however, his injuries were slightly more brutal than hers. Drained out of magic after withstanding all the damage that was dealt, and was struck heavily to a slight critical point, she didn't think he would be able to move this much so quickly. However, in front of her he was up and about, bandaged around his body and here and there. Walking around like it was just a light bump instead of being beaten all over, and overstressing his body slightly by using his dual elements. Though, that wasn't the reason why she distanced herself from him.

"Should I come over there and help you?" asking curiously, "If you want, I can carry you" sheepishly smiling over at her without a care in the world.

Hearing that set her imagination slightly off, picturing him carrying her in his arms as if they had just gotten married. Feeling her face burn slightly, she quickly shook the image away from her thoughts. "N-no, Juvia's okay!" her eyes closed from shaking the image away, she slowly peered out, opening one of them slightly, only to jump slightly, seeing him just a few inches away from her, his hand on his forehead and the other on hers.

"Nope... you don't got a fever..." diagnosing, "You sure you're okay?" keeping his hand slightly on her, "Your face is burning..."

Her face burned deeper, she panicked slightly as she hastily backed away, only to trip, causing him to reach out and grab onto her wrist. Again, he made contact with her. Within that moment, the instant he grabbed onto her, a burst of warmth spread through her body, making her heart jolt faster than she could keep track of. It terrified her; however, the more she felt this feeling the more she began to understand what it meant. That also meant, though, that she began to feel guilty about the feelings she already held for someone else.

"L-Let Juvia go!" Slightly demanding, she pulled away just to hold it against her chest, pushing past him as she shut her eyes tight to ignore that feeling. It was a mean thing to say, knowing that he was only doing it out of the kindness of his heart. But that's what made her feel so conflicted. He hardly would talk back, but if it meant like he was offending her in some way, he wouldn't press on. However, she began to feel guilty about what she did, "Natsu... Juvia's..." just as she was turning to face him and apologize, she expression lightly sunk as she looked at face he had.

Smiling a little guilty, he scratched his cheek lightly. "S-Sorry" she could see the his cheery face trying to hide any guilt that he felt for probably doing something worry. Slowly he began to walk past her, "We should uh... get going before it gets dark" again trying to cover up whatever he felt he did wrong.

"Natsuu... were you picking on Juvia again?" she could hear Happy interrogate him over this, "I'm going to tell Erza you were mean to her~" slightly putting a scare him.

As the two of them got further and further away, she could hear them slightly bicker back and forth about what had happened. She had wanted to stop him and explain to him that there wasn't anything wrong, that it was all her fault for getting caught up in everything she was feeling. But, that would mean she would have to explain all that was going on inside of her. If she couldn't accept it, rather, if she didn't want to go through with it, how would he feel if she had randomly told him that? Her face fell just thinking. She was thankful for him for everything that he's done. Taking her out, seeing the world. She may have even gotten stronger even just a little bit by having to spar with the battle hungry dragonslayer. However, it was because of how she felt that she's was here to begin with.

-[x]-

Night fell, and as per usual, the two of them found a nice place to rest for the remainder of the day. Though, it was strangely quiet, enough to just hear the cackling of the fire as the two of sat around it for warmth. He wasn't mad at her; at least, that's not how she interpreted it. Even with the strange awkwardness floating about because of her slight lash, she felt it was only limited to her. They had eaten whatever Natsu picked up, alongside some of the herbs and fruits he had picked up when he had gotten dinner. Even though he had such an upset look on his face earlier, he hadn't treated her the slightest different, but instead tried to make it up with her.

"So!...Was it good?" he had a large grin on his face, wondering if how he made dinner was to her liking, "I wasn't sure, so I've tried mixing a little of the herbs and fruits with the meat as best I could" scratching the back of his head.

She was actually a little surprised herself, "Juvia's... really impressed" smiling a bit, "Juvia didn't think that you would think about mixing the herbs with the meat"

"Even I could think of that" passing off a slight narrow glance to the side, feeling slightly insulting, "Y'know... after seeing you do it a whole bunch of times here and there" not wanting to admit he got the idea solely from her.

Her cheeks tinged a little, feeling a bit embarrassed that he was actually looking closely on how she'd prepare things. The way he acted slightly got to her as well, a bit bashful mixed with embarrassment. He was in no way like /him/ but the childish demeanor he had when it came to little things like this was something she'd find cute. Still, if there was something she could do, she wanted to at least apologize and perhaps try to explain what it was she was that was going on.

"Hey...uh..." hearing him speak once more brought her attention to focus, "Sorry about today" he told her, "You must be still a little sore about what happened back in the village, right?" he was wrong, "If you want, you know, we can take a day or so to rest, just until you're feeling all better again" smiling more, still, he was wrong. "Don't worry! I'll be picking up the meals, so just do your best to relax okay?"

Any chance she had at apologizing and explaining things to him was gone. Eventually, the three of them got tired to a point that they decided to tuck in for the night. Although, Juvia was the only one awake. Eating away at her was the guilt she felt for being the one to push all the troublesome feelings she was having onto Natsu who was misunderstanding. She began to realize if she didn't overact so much, she wouldn't have given Natsu the wrong signal, and things wouldn't be so awkward like it was now. There was a small part of her as well, that began to lightly curse herself.

-[x]-

The next day came to be, and she hadn't slept at all, kept awake by the guilt and her confusing feelings. Before she knew it, while she was contemplating everything that was happening, night had fallen and the sun had risen, knowing that she had to correct herself her previous mistake with him earlier on. The sun was bright, trying hard to keep herself from losing control of her emotions. If she cried, or was sad, he would know. That's what she thought. Looking over, tired and plagued with sleep deprivation, she watched the dragonslayer with a smile rush about, practicing on his own as the blue exceed cheering him on

Watching the burning flames he'd emit, she fell into a light trance, thinking, or making attempts to process information. "Natsu acts like nothing happened yesterday..." she'd comment to herself, slightly dazed, "So why, is Juvia the only one feeling all this regret?"

"Because Natsu's an idiot" a voice spoke, startling her. Turning to face the source of the voice. Her eyes opened wise, but she couldn't tell if who was there was actually there, "But isn't that why you like him?" it was Gray, or rather her mind slowly deteriorating.

Shaking her head, she tried to refuse, "No! Juvia doesn't!" holding her head a little, "Juvia only loves you, her beloved Gray!" convincing herself.

"Are you sure?" the hallucination of Gray asked her once more, "Then why are you even travelling with him this long? How long has it been. Maybe around two months almost?" asking her.

Shivering a little, she was starting to remember, "It's because... because Gray... sweet beloved Gray didn't want Juvia around" she answered it, shivering a little.

"Juvia!" a voice called out to her, snapping her out of her troubles. Looking around frantically, she noticed that the illusion of Gray was no longer there. Looking, she noticed the pink-haired salamander was rushing up to her in a sweat, "Are you sure you're okay?" asking her honestly, "It sounded like... you were talking to Gray for a second" moving in, he felt her forehead once more, pressing his own against it, "You've got a slight fever... and you don't like you've slept last night either" noticing.

Again, this closeness flushed her cheeks lightly. Her heart was racing as she carelessly looked into his eyes, causing her to feel a light stumble in her chest. Lightly dazed, she was forced to rest in her sleep just for safe measure as he would take care of everything. Food, water; anything she needed there wasn't a hesitance in his actions. It was calm, feeling her thoughts slowly burn as he made sure she was resting well. Curious, she couldn't help but wonder if there were any reasons behind his gentle nature.

-[x]-

Night would fall, and the two of them would be still in the same camping area, something new considering they've always traveled around, moving from one spot to another. Weary, she would eye him, watching the flames cackle as he'd lightly doze away. She couldn't blame him. The entire day he passed it training any way he could while still being close by her. Using large boulders as weights, he would push it across, back and forth until he would hit his limit. After a quick water break and checking up on her, he'd go back and continue it until day broke and night began to fall.

"Natsu...?" calling out to him. However, he was still dazed, finding it hard for even himself to keep awake and up, "Na-...tsu..." calling out to him, dragging his name out.

Waking up in a jolt, he turned to face her, a little dazed, "I'm aw-ake..." slapping both his cheeks real quick, "What's up, Juvia?" asking her, "Do you need anything?" crawling over since he was just a short distance away.

"Uh uh..." shaking her head, "Well... Juvia just..." perhaps she was slightly embarrassed, but, a part of her wanted to ask. "What... you know... do you think of Juvia?" asking him, struggling to keep her eyes to focus on him, she wanted to look away.

For some reason, this caused a slight blush on the young dragonslayer's face. "W-What do y'mean?!" in slight shock, falling back a bit on the ground, "I mean..." sitting upright, he scratched the side of his cheek a little, refusing to make any eye-contact with her, "I think you're pre-..." though he was mumbling to himself a little low, "A-n yeah... tha... I mean, I think we need more fire wood, treee... aaghh! I'm going to get stuff to chuck in the fire!" she had never seen him so disgruntled before, as she watched him hastily make his way away to the woods, "Come on, Happy!"

"A-Aye!" saluting as he got up, the little blue cat hurried after the pinkette, "Natssuuuuuu, wait for me!" she could hear him cry.

Watching, she wondered what had just happened. She couldn't hear what the dragonslayer had to say, and before she could have a chance to ask him to repeat himself, he took out in a mad dash. Thinking, a part of her almost felt like she knew what he was going to say, but something about him always made him nervous to the point he'd rather take off instead of admit it to her. Funny enough, his actions reminded him of herself.

"See... it's probably obvious by now" the hallucination had appeared, sitting right next to her, "I don't see why you don't just hurry up and accept them" saying.

It was back again. Before, she had thought it was her going crazy but she quickly began to realize that this Gray was the manifestation of her reluctance to let go. Even if she knew that, however, it was hard for her to not talk to it as if it were the real him. "But Juvia can't..." stifling a little, "Dear beloved Gray did so much for Juvia..." wanting to cry. Her heart was aching, feeling slightly torn between the two, "He brought her to Fairy Tail... showed her Juvia could make friends with someone... Juvia would be lost... if it wasn't for him..."

"You're just making excuses" nonchalantly telling her with a light scoff, "Weren't you just the one who went crazy just because some guys punched him into the ground?" asking her, "Well... that's a bad example...Natsu get's pissed off over anyone" correcting himself. "Well, the point is,..." getting up, he turned to face her, sitting just in front of her, "It's fine to stay in love with me,... if that keeps you happy" he began to tell her, "But,... if you manage to find someone you loves you just as much, and you're beginning to feel the same back,... then you can always keep me in your heart. And perhaps,... It was my fault for not reciprocating them when I've had so many opportunities to"

It was then everything began to overwhelm her, beginning to tear her apart on the inside as she heard those words. Embracing herself tightly, she tried to ease it as the hallucination of Gray began telling her those words. The problem was, was that she couldn't discern whether or not it was her trying to convince herself that it was okay, or if she was starting to let go of her feelings. It was painful; the guilt of feeling such strong emotions conflicting was something she had never experienced as she never thought it would happen. Struggling, she couldn't fight the tears from coming, as she held herself tightly, letting it all out. It didn't surprise her that it rained, but as it poured, it was like the world could understand her pain.

-[x]-

The next day came, and perhaps to her surprise, she awoke with a light feeling in her chest. Feeling the rays of the sun sparkle just after a whiles worth of rain was a cool and gentle feeling. Rain. It dawned to her immediately that it probably had rained the entire course of the night or at least until the moment she passed out, but as she noticed, she was dry to the bone. Looking up and around she had realized she was moved somewhere to shield her from the rain, like someone had crudely blown a hole in a small rock formation and carried her in. However, she had also noticed that her outer coat was removed, finding it beside her on a makeshift grill.

"How did..." curious, she heard someone groaning slightly and jumped a little, turning to find the dragonslayer worn and knocked out beside her, "Natsu?" motioning over to him to see try and wake up. However, seeing his sleeping face struck her a little, causing her heart to jump. Tempted slightly, her heart was racing as she slowly reached over with her hand.

Unfortunately, floating behind her, with a slight devious look on his face was the blue exceed. "Oooohhhhhh... what are you doing, Juvia?" snickering. "Natsu does you a favor and you were gonna do something weird, almost like you lliiiiiiikkkkkeeeeee him~"

"H-Happy!" startled a little, she fell back to her spot, shameful that she was caught like that, "W-What... N-nothing... just..."

Stirring around in his sleep, Natsu woke up to Happy and Juvia going at it slightly, "Ugh... is it morning already?" rubbing his eyes with an exhausted look on his face, "Wh-... What's up Happy? Juvia? You guy's fighting or something?"

"Natsu! Natsu!" eagerly, he flew over to his friend, "I think Juvia lllliiiiii-"

Before he could finish, she reached over to him using dual Water Cane and covered his mouth, retracting him back and holding him tightly, "Juvia thinks... t-that... she's perfectly fine to start back up our journey today Natsu dea-" stopping herself short, she realized what she was able to say impulsively.

"E...Eh?" luckily for her, he was still slightly dazed and out of it, perhaps from using far more magic than he had wanted punching a hole in the small rock formation. "That's great! So let-" trying to get up, his body refused as he fell back, "Right... Lightning Fire Dragon roar... and slight overnight roasting..." drained, his body was probably beaten to the punch from yesterday's training accompanied by his over usage of magic.

Hearing that, she found it was the perfect opportunity to come clean, "Natsu...?" calling to get his attention, "Juvia... wants to apologize" saying with a dim expression, "Right now,... Juvia was just feeling a lot of things,... and she took out her frustration on Natsu... Juvia also made it rain... again" a little down, even though she felt good about coming clean, it didn't help making up for what she did. She looked at him, wondering how he was going to react, but, as he thought it over in his head, he forcibly made his way up, fighting through the pain, "N-Natsu?! You need to rest!" moving over to assure him to lie down.

"Well,... it kind of made sense" thinking over it, "You were talking to yourself a lot,..." remembering how odd it was she was arguing with herself, or rather, the feeling like she was fighting with Gray, "But, you're feeling better now though,... right?" looking at her, "If I can ever do anything to help,... just let me know" smiling bright.

That smile, the one that always assured her that everything was fine, that was what broke through to her. Every time he'd smile at her, every action he did, always made her heart beat, making it feel like her chest was bubbling before it'd boil with love. Using Happy as a shield, she used him to hide her face so that he couldn't see her, until, she shoved Happy into his face, causing him to overreact from the sudden action.

"J-Juvia! What the-" surprised by how she suddenly attacked him like that, no less by his own friend, he was completely distracted by what was going to happen next.

In the next moment, as fast as a second passed, she quickly closed in and pressed her lips softly against his cheek, running away just as quickly so that he wouldn't be able discern what had happened. With her back pressed up against the tree, a good distance away, she stood there, letting the beat of her heart resonate throughout her thoughts. Sure, she could hear him and Happy slightly argue whose fault it was for it happening, but as she slightly peaked over, she turned back around, and held the tip of her index finger against her lips gently. The jolt she felt sent her heart racing faster than lightning, thinking, perhaps there's some future to this love.

* * *

 **A/N: WHY WAS THIS SO HARD AND COMPLICATED. Anywho! Chapter uh... 5? I guess? Wow, 5 chapters in. Well, again, if you've read this it means I took a freakin' lifetime to get together. I usually take a while to draw out (draw, lol, I'm kidding I wrote out) a storyboard kind of like to guide me on what I'm going to do. The problem is, I change the last half act at the last minute! XD It's not bad per say, as the ides were just like they were here, only I thought I dunno... the original idea was that it was suppose to tear her apart far worse but then I was like "God... the poor girl suffers/ed enough" and while it was suppose to have driven her mad I wanted a different approach, plus apparently I'm already torturing Erza in my NatZa story... completely unintentionally, I swear. The plus side to this, you also get a better glimpse into Natsu's feelings... sort of. I dunno. I thought it was okay. Like I dunno.. 6/10 okay? Just barely passing. xD. Well! if you have any suggestions feel free to tie them to a rock and throw them at me xD Liked it? What're your thoughts? Should Gray make an actual appearance? What will happen!? WILL NATSU AND JUVIA BE LOVERS OR JUST SUPER BROTPS?! Darky darkness out~~~~~~~ :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	6. What is Love?

**Chapter VI: What is Love?**

* * *

Her breath was ragged as she concentrated in the immense heat, trying to keep her mind fixed on the spheres of water, she created from all the sweat around her from dropping and dripping. After Natsu had told her what she had done in her fit of rage, she had been trying to repeat the process, only this time intentional and more under her control. However, her concentration was thinning by the second, as the heat around her was slowly and surely getting to her. Burning slowly, she had no choice but to release herself from her concentration, causing the spheres of water to crash and quickly evaporate once they hit the ground. Her body was soaked with sweat from the burning heat, ironic considering her spell was active.

Gasping for air, she fell back, her arms thrown out against the ground as she heaved heavily, finding it difficult to breathe. "It's so hot out here..." around their travels, they made their way to a light barren looking place so that they could focus on training with a large enough area without any obstructions. However, the unfortunate part was that it was hotter than she'd like, "Natsu... let's get water already" playfully complaining to him, "Juvia feels like she'll evaporate any second now..." gasping for air, she rose up to see that Natsu was still pushing himself to push a larger boulder, "Juvia can't believe... you pushed that all the way here" commenting.

From one of the places they had left, he was eager to continue training the way he had been when she wasn't well. The conclusion he came to was pushing large heavy things against the ground, and once he could push it with very little effort, he would find something heavier. She felt that it was because he wasn't as strong as he wanted to be when the two of them went up against the thunder trio in the village. Sure they had won, but it was a close fight that she felt they were just lucky to have accomplished. Since then he was pushing himself to the utmost limit whenever he could, using more magic than he had, and especially doing something like this.

"You can...go" his breath thinning, the heat from the dryness around them, coupled with his physical exhaustion was beginning to win the battle between Natsu and the large rock. He was going to get stronger, all he needed to was work as much as he could to push beyond his limit. Gildarts. Erza. Laxus. Mard Geer. Zeref. Acnologia. All of his friends and his enemies, he was going to surpass them all. He was lucky that he managed to push this as far as he did, but in doing so he could only go about 2/3 of his normal pace. "Just... going to... push a little harder..."

Watching him nearly kill himself by overworking was beginning to worry her slightly, finding that he was going to drop before he reached his goal. "Juvia can't watch this anymore..." sighing lightly, she forced herself up, stumbling a little from the heat getting to her and made her way over to him, a little wobbly. "Natsu..." before collapsing back down.

"...!" hearing that she had fallen, he let go of what he was doing and ran towards her, stumbling himself until he reached her, bringing her over onto him, "Juvia...? Juvia!" worried about her, he leaned down to listen, "Phew... she's breathing..." relieved, he felt her forehead, "Probably blacked out..." in light panic, he stumbled up, picking her up and carrying her within his arms, he needed to find a place to cool her down before it gets worse, "All right,... we're going to go get water,... okay?" telling her, hoping she could hear him, "Happy, grab something we could use for water" telling the blue exceed, "And uh... our things" remembering.

Saluting, the little exceed responded, "Got it!" in a light burst he flew, swerving to pick up both of their bags, and stopped for a bit as he made his way towards him, "W-Wait, Natsu! What about your rock~" deciding to ask.

"I'll find another rock!" frantically responding, shocked he even had to answer a question like that, "Right now Juvia's more important than some stupid rock" bothered slightly that he was considered probably low to a point he'd have to choose whether an inanimate object was far more important than a person's life.

Nodding the exceed fumbled around the place, flying off alongside his friend as the two of them rushed to find a safer place to rest, and more importantly, get Juvia to a place where the heat wouldn't affect her too much and she could rehydrate indefinitely. He screwed up this time. It didn't matter if he blacked out, but being careless and endangering someone else's' life was something that ate at him. Usually she'd just play about it, so he thought that perhaps she wasn't as exhausted as she claimed she was. No, she was the opposite, far worse than what she was sounding to be. Gritting his teeth, slightly angry and frustrated with himself, he felt a swirl of emotions that he couldn't understand.

-[x]-

It was strange, as she slowly began to regain conscious there was a change in temperature than what she last recalled. For one, it was cooler than the dry heat they were in previously. Her body was cooled down, a slight shock for her considering before she was already burning from exhaustion. Rising up a little, a soaked cloth fell from her head, assuming that she was being treated because she must have fallen unconscious from the heat. Looking all over, most of her clothes were taken, leaving just her light undershirt and her skirt once more, her coat and hat likely with her belongings. What she also noticed was that they were in a less dry location. It wasn't much better than the last once, but for the most part it had shade, and what more, a pond of water.

"What... Where is Juvia?" a little dizzy herself, she wondered, looking around, she hadn't noticed Natsu nor Happy were around, making her concerned that perhaps some person snatched her when the other two blacked out. "N-Natsu wouldn't leave Juvia...w-would he...?" her thoughts were starting to wonder, remembering how this had happened before, only with someone else.

Suddenly, she heard rustling around her, as she readied herself, she wasn't prepared to see for what was going to happen next. "Juvia? Ah-, you're awake!" taken back by the excited look on the dragonslayer who rushed over, "How are you? You doing okay?" bombarding her with concern, he felt her forehead, her cheeks, just making sure, "Phew... we made it in time" relieved he carelessly kept his hands on her shoulders.

"U-Um... Natsu" once more, he had his hands on her. It wasn't in a perverse manner, but the fact he had taken off her outer coat and was this close to her, his hands on her bare shoulders made her face flush with embarrassment. Averting her gaze, she could feel her heart race a mile a second, "Y-You're hands...t-they're touching J-juvia..."

Curious, it took a while for him to understand what she was getting at, until finally it clicked in his brain. In a rush, he fell backwards, flustered a little himself as he kept his gaze from looking at her, scratching the back of his head, "Ri-right...!" hastily changing the topic, "I'll go get the rest of the food... and stuff... you just rest okay?" getting up in a rush he made his way back to wherever the rest of the camp was to get the food.

"..." her heart was pounding louder, just feeling his touch made her heart skip around. Her cheeks were flushed, and the feelings she had was getting worse. Ever since she had that talk with her hallucination, she's been trying hard to repress her feelings, not because she wanted to reject them, but because she didn't want to make a similar mistake and feel drowned in her feelings that may be, once more, unrequited, "But still... that was the perfect time for Juvia to ask!" frustrated, she realized that it was a good enough time if any to ask him how he felt about her.

Tossing around, she was annoyed with herself that she let such an opportunity like that pass. Eventually, she calmed down, somehow during the midst of her rolling around fit, she fell on her side, solemnly looking at the ground a little. Though, when she thought about it, she was probably scared herself to ask him how he felt, fearing that perhaps she had only liked her as a good companion rather than anything more than that. Still, even if that was the answer she received, she couldn't deny,...that being around him had been fun.

No. Rising up filled with determination, she filled herself with vigor as she decided that if she was going to get anywhere, she needed to be persistent. Just because things were slightly different, all she had to do was not overly cling herself onto him before considering his feelings for once. "Natsu!~" Almost slightly filled with energy she popped her way out, a large smile on her face, "Juvia's here to help!" excited she rushed in without paying attention to what was happening.

"O-oi!" calling out at her a little upset, "You should be resting!" slightly telling her, pointing back to where she came from, "I got dinner tonight, so you just go rest" giving her a serious look. His draconic eyes were half closed facing her as she wondered what would be next.

Shaking her head, she firmed her position, her hands held behind her, "It isn't fair" she began to tell him, "Besides, Juvia hasn't yet thanked Natsu for all that he's done. Carrying Juvia all the way here..." the thought that she was slightly unconscious for that entire moment frustrated her a little, "Even cooled her body so that she wouldn't suffer from heat stroke"

"Eh? It's nothing" looking at her a little blank, "We're friends aren't we? You'd probably do the same fo..." interrupting his own train of thought, he began to wonder that himself. Usually there would be little to no doubt, that probably half of the guild, or probably more, would have left him under his own devices and simply label it as a 'poor decision' on his part. Well, especially if he were to take Juvia into account, "Actually..." his expression growing down and slightly feeling sick, "I have a feeling I'd just be stuck there... left to die"

As Juvia wanted to interject, saying that there would be someone, she began to scan through the entire guild herself over her limited history with the dragonslayer. He had a point, one way or another he would have pressed one of the guild member's buttons by either constantly taunting them into a fight, fighting them directly, or either doing something against the wishes of what they'd ask. She knew from the beginning that the pinkette was a reckless person, in fact, everyone in the guild was. Though, she had wanted to say that she,...

"What about Happy?" asking him, "Happy doesn't seem like the person who'd just up and leave you to your own devices" reminding him of his best companion.

However, it was then the little flying blue cat popped up, "Even I may have my limits" saying with a large sarcastic smile on his face, "Like when Natsu ate the large fish I caught and wouldn't let me have a say in how to cook it"

"Wait! I remember that!" replying to the little exceed, " _I_ caught it, and didn't I give you like nine large fishes for _yourself_?!" a little upset his best friend could forget that.

Laughing a little to himself the blue exceed comically began to fly away, avoiding the 'wrath' of the dragonslayer, "It still hurts thinking about it" playfully acting like a hurt victim, only for it to be untrue.

She watched as the two of them ran around the place as Natsu tried to 'burn' happy with a light breath of fire here and there. It wasn't that she couldn't understand, but he acted like there was nothing to worry about with how things are. When she began to think about it though, perhaps it wasn't such a problem considering that he's proven to be capable of helping himself. He was willing to train alone out here for who knows how long. It reminded her a little of Gray, how he was so determined to destroy E.N.D. even if it were at the cost of anything. Though, that slight remembrance of what had happened shook her a little. Even if it was an accident.

"Juvia, you okay?" asking her, both him and the exceed stopped in their tracks, "You seem kinda stuck on something" noting on the expression on her face, deciding to take a seat, the exceed followed suit, as the dragonslayer rested against the tree, "If the ice princess did something stupid, I could always give him an ol' fashion punch in the face" smiling to her a little troublesome like, smacking his fist into his open palm.

It had been a while since he insulted Gray, probably because it was the first time he was mentioned for a while now, "N-No, that won't be necessary" nervously sweating, "Juvia's sure tha-" before she could finish she was met with shocked and confused, almost terrifying looks on Natsu and Happy's face, "W-What?!" baffled herself, she wasn't sure what was going on "I-Is there something on Juvia's face?" a little frantic.

"N-No... it's not that" a confused looked continued as a nervous sweat fell from the two of them as they exchanged glances, "You usually attack me or go on how wrong I am about how 'amazing' Ice-fer-brain really is" a little dread, remembering the 'lectures'.

Her face heated up. Being called out like that was something a little expected, but she had also realized that it was true. Usually her go-to reaction was attacking him with water, especially for the last comment. "N-no... it's just... Juvia's just a little" what excuse could she make? "Juvia mean's... you know... why would you think she would do that?"

"Well..." his expression fell halfway as he looked at her probably a little insulted, "Everyone in the guild-"

Interrupting him slightly was the little exceed, popping up with his own little correction, "-Entire world~..." happily feeling proud.

"Yeah, that" agreeing with happy, "- knows that you're obsessed with him" telling him, "Remember when you used to try and kill Lucy 'cause you thought she was a love rival?" chuckling a little. It was the first time Juvia affiliated herself with Fairy Tail following the destruction and permanent disbandment of 'Phantom Lord', "I mean it's not bad" blankly looking at her, "It's just a little weird is all that you're not as angry or anything" laughing a little.

It was then she realized something. For all he knew, she was still hopelessly in love with Gray. Then again, she felt it was to be expected because she hadn't really said or done anything that he knew of which would probably have told him otherwise. How would he react right now if she told him 'Well, to be quite honest, Juvia thinks she's in love with you'. If she told him that, would he tell her the same back? She wasn't sure, and right now she didn't feel she could take the risk. Though, perhaps if anything, this was a good chance to talk about if he liked anyone. He's never really focused on anyone, or seemed like he was the type to talk to people about romantic things.

"W-Well..." admitting she had no retort to that, at least, not without blunting telling him and possibly making things awkward, "How about you, Natsu?" deviously smiling as she pried into his personal life for the first time, "Do you like anyone? You're always hanging around Lucy~" playfully getting at him, "Juvia thinks you're more clingy than she is"

The expression on his face died hearing that, "I wouldn't say that" telling her, "It's just fun picking on her that's all" innocently explaining it, "I mean ask Erza or Stripperella" taking advantage of not being attacked, "We all crash at her place or tease her,... but that's just about it" stretching a little, "Besides...-" Yawning slightly, "I don't particularly get it..." feelings were something he never understood. It wasn't that he didn't feel them, but he was never sure what it was he felt, "Hey,... Juvia" turning his attention to her, "What does it mean...? Like,... how do you know if you 'like' someone like that?"

"Heh...?" startled, she blushed a little hearing that being asked of her, "W-Well, It's like... you know" sitting up against the tree just opposite of him, her knees just within a comfort grasp with her arms, "When you think of that someone that they're always on your mind... they make your heart race,... and you're always happy even on the saddest of days, that's why you try to spend so much time with them, being around them as much as possible" trying to figure out the best ways of telling him, "Juvia doesn't know really" smiling a bit embarrassed, "She's just saying what she feels" perhaps this was the first time she was able to express things like this.

Looking to see how he reacted, she found him staring at the sky, contemplative as if he was putting all the words together. Perhaps then he could understand just a little how people felt, "Ah,... I see" commenting, he began to look back on a few things. Maybe, that explained then all the things that person did and said, why they were always around him even if he never understood. "Y'know... I'm starting to feel a little jealous" smiling a little large, "Though... now I'm strangely even more annoyed than I was earlier" his face tiring.

"Hmm?" curious, she didn't know what she meant, "What do you mean, Natsu?"

Mumbling to himself a little, he began trying the right words to tell her, "Well... all of it is just really frustrating now" tired and probably bothered, "You're such a great person, Juvia" telling her with an earnest smile, "So it kind of makes me kinda jealous that a guy like 'Gray' of all people gets that from you" sheepishly smiling a little large, "That's kind of why I want to give him an even harder punch to the face" his expression changing to slightly dark and annoyed one, thinking back on all the times Gray just easily avoids or ignores it.

"..." she wasn't sure how to take that. Maybe the little ray of hope she had, considering he was jealous, was something to have hope for? "It's fine" gently smiling to herself, "If anything, Juvia is the jealous one" telling, "Juvia means,..." finding the right phrasing of words, she eventually gave up, and instead changed her approach "Natsu?" asking him face up, "Can... is it okay for Juvia to sit next to you? It feels a little lonely over here" sounding a little awkward.

Finding it slightly peculiar, "Sure" simply answering her, "Besides, here has the best sight of the sky" grinning, largely, "Come over and see for yourself!" eagerly trying to intrigue her to check it out.

She felt her smile grow as her heart began to warm a little, making her way over beside him to sit down next to. Huddled up, she kept her knees lightly against her chest as they looked up at the night sky, as he showed her the many stars littered across. It was beautiful. Hearing him talk about stars and what his dad would tell him about them intrigued her. Something about that, caused her to just silently gaze at him, just remembering his words about he was jealous and how happy he looked. Eventually, sometime during their stargazing and just mindlessly talking about things, she felt a light thud fall against her, and as she looked, she found he had passed out on top of her head. Being this close to him without being shoved away, or ignored, made the beating in her heart race faster. Saying she was the jealous one probably wasn't a lie either. There was no doubt that she would give anything to have him love her. It just felt warm. As her head fell against his shoulder, her eyes growing heavy, she wished that this lovely feeling could last forever.

* * *

 **A/N: AND HERE WE ARE ANOTHER NAVIA CHAPTERSS. Sorry about the delay! Some of you know I was busy writing my NatZa fic, and considering I wanted to end it before the manga detailed their stuff (even though it's probably better done than mine -w-) I put this off as well as some of my other fics (I love you guys that much :heart: :heart: :heart: ) to finish that up (for now, ssh ;) ). Anyways, WHAT ARE THESE FEELINGS?! I was wondering how to bring it up, or get them to talk about it at the very least, and while its not like OH I LOVE YOU OH SO MUCH, it does kind of make it easier for me to lead in to other stuff or at least break the ice on the concept so that maybe this next chapter or the one after there's going to be some results of it. BUT WOW. WILL THEY ACTUALLY BE LOVERS AT THIS POINT?! WHO IS THIS PERSON NATSU THOUGHT OF?! IS SHE A FUTURE LOVE RIVAL FOR OUR SWEET WATER MAGE? OR WILL THEY BE JUST CLOSE STAR BUDDIES BROTPS?! WHO KNOWS (Darky dark does ;x) sshhhh D:. Lemme know what you think or how it should go :3 Just also warn me if theres gonna be torches and pitchforks so i can run away. Also! Before people ask, what Natsu was doing is a variant on the 'weight sled workout' ;# Darky dark darkness out~~~~~ :heart:**


	7. Close yet Far Away

**Chapter VII: Close yet Far Away**

* * *

Scorching, the heat was strong enough to quickly dry up water the moment it entered, which put Juvia at a slight disadvantage. However, the source wasn't just from the weather and location they were in; it was assisted by the dragonslayer's fiery nature that expanded out from the results of their training. By just standing there he was able to increase the radius and temperature of his heat to a point she felt she was going to lose conscious if she didn't concentrate hard enough. She had even taken off her outer coat, knowing that wearing it would only be worse for her. Looking him down, both of them were out of breath after starting the day with a full-on mock battle just to get a larger scope of where they were currently. They were waiting, wondering who was going to make the first step after this standoff.

Luckily, he was slightly more impatient than she was, as he leapt straight at her, his fists smothered with bright burning flames. Taking the advantage of this situation, she uncorked a small gourd she carried on around her waist, a lesson she learned the last time she fell from heat stroke. "Water Make: Bullet Storm!" casting, she held her hand out as several sphere of water formed and instantly shot themselves off in a flurry.

"Crap..." Seeing that, he knew that after getting hit by a few, he couldn't just punch them out of the way and expect them to burst into steam. Taking evasive maneuver, he dodged them as best he could, still getting pelted by a couple here and there, which would set back his progress without fail. After getting pelted with another, he fell back as he gathered as much magic as he could, "Fire Dragon's,... Roar!" spewing out a vicious breath of fire towards her direction

Anticipating that, she held out both of her hands, "Water Dome!" blocking the flames by encasing herself in a sphere of water around her, strong enough to withstand intense flames. However, as she figured, she needed to keep it working as steam was pouring out from the continuation of his breath. Needing to get away, she quickly hydroplaned to the side, phasing through the dome of water just quick enough to avoid the intense flames burning through.

However, this was probably his plan as wall, as the moment she was able to clear her way through, he came rushing through the thick fog of steam and threw a punch. Submerging her hands in water, she quickly knocked it to the side, as a burning stream of flames shot out from his hands. Quickly clutching onto his hand, she tossed him aside using her 'Water Cane', slamming him into the ground a good distance away from her, only for him to reverse his hold on her and drag her down with him, crashing her back into the ground next to him. Both of them had tried to move, but the last smack down into the ground had taken the rest of the energy out of them.

Breathing heavy, the two of them lied there, covered in sweat as they took the time to regain enough energy, "Juvia... is surprised" out of breath, "Does... Natsu have any water?" asking, she leaned up and paid mind to the out of breath dragonslayer "Juvia,... used it all up...earlier".

"Yeah... I think..." sitting up, he was fiddling around, going a little blind as he was looking for a canteen of water he had on his person, "Found it..." shaking it a little, "There's not much,... but you can have it" handing it to her, he fell back down, catching his breath, "I'll just be here... on the ground"

A little flustered at his offering, there was no use arguing as he was only looking out for her, "T-Thank you..." opening it up, she took her time drinking whatever was left from the canteen he had. However, looking down at him, she couldn't help but fluster a little more, seeing him covered in sweat slightly only made things worse for her, making her heart race faster than she could count. It had been a while since her fantasies took reign over her, but as she grew fixated, she imagined herself doing some risqué things, primarily feeding him the water mouth to mouth. The heat going to her face, spazzing her out, she quickly stopped and closed the canteen "J-Juvia's done!" hurriedly, she dropped it on top of him and forced herself up, wobbling a little from her sudden rising, helping him up as he drank the rest of the canteen, she tried fanning herself to calm her down.

"Phew... that was great" relieved, he let out a happy sigh even if it was only a small bit of water he had. "Though,... I suppose we should go find more" trying to shake out any left, "What do you thi-" turning to face her, he stopped for a moment.

Stretching to relieve the tension in her arms, she realized that he was stopped in the middle of his sentence. Turning to face him, she realized he was caught slightly looking at her a little, only for him to slightly bitterly avert his gaze as he noticed she was facing him, "Natsu...?" a little curious she peered in, "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing" blushed a little, he kept his gaze away from her, scratching the side of his cheek, "W-We should keep going, we might find a place where we get something to eat" saying as he slowly made his way away from her, "Happy!" calling out to his flying blue friend, "We're leaving"

Standing there a little, watching him leave, she felt a little tinge watching the back of his get smaller, making his way over to the exceed who met up with him with their bags. Was he looking at her? Thoughts swarmed her lightly as she wondered if this was the first time he had seriously looked at her like that, or if there were other times that she just didn't know about. Little by little, she was finding a little more hope inside of her making its way through. Not wanting to just stand there, however, she quickly caught up with him, the thoughts in her head forming questions as the two of them set off to find a place to get water and something to eat. Keeping herself a little ways back, she looked at him from that distance, pondering what was going on through that head of his, only to divert her gaze away whenever the blue exceed in the eye would curiously look over at her.

-[x]-

The sun slowly had begun to set as they found a better place to keep for the night, munching on whatever berries and plants along the way. There was a nice river they passed where they'd take a short break to wash off from the morning's extensive mock battle and fill back up on water just for them to continue along their path until they found a nice little shaded area, almost tropical. Looking back, it must've been an entire days worth of walking and running to get where they came from to arrive here, but with all that was a nice little way to mix getting some travel distance done and training slightly more than she wanted.

Dropping their things for a bit, they set up a nice area for them just in case it rained spontaneously. Before, they were lucky enough with places here and there, or when Natsu would blow open a hole in a rock formation, but here was a different story. "Hmm..." a little stuck, he stared at their camping area a bit, realizing some faults here and there with the sticks and leaves all over, "...Yeah, I got nothing" sighing in utter defeat, he stood there.

"...What was Natsu trying to do?" staring in confusion, her expression felt dead for a moment at the horrendous job the pinkette did setting up a sort of makeshift house, "It almost seemed like... you were trying to..." trying to guess, she couldn't figure out either what it was supposed to be, "...What even is it?" turning to him.

Slightly embarrassed, more so ashamed, his expression was dead, "It's... you know,... supposed to be a house...or a tent" trying to make sense to her what he attempted to do, "I thought it would be cool! Having a little makeshift tent here or there,... but it didn't turn out right"

"Juvia know's!" catching him by surprise, "We can use Juvia's Water dome to create a nice dome of water around us while we sleep!" feeling proud of the solution she came to.

Interjected was the small little exceed raising his head, "What if it stops working and the water just falls on top of us?" saying with a mischievous look on his face.

"I'm with Happy" a little in shock, "Besides, wouldn't we have to be somewhat close to another for you to lock us both in at the same time?" casually asking her.

Jumping slightly from the thought, "H-Heh..?" a little red in the face, she pictured the close proximity they would have needed to be in for her to cast it, "N-No...Juvia can make it bi-" stopping herself, she realized as she looked at the confused dragonslayer, waiting for an answer, that she could probably use this chance to get a little closer. "S-Sure!" changing her answers at the last second. Though, slight guilt began to eat at her for lying "A-Actually,...Juvia can make it bigger if needed, just... thinks it would be easier if it were smaller, if that's okay with you" trying to contain herself a little. She didn't want to trick or lie to the dragonslayer; it was bad enough he still believed she was completely in love with Gray.

"Sure" smiling a little large, "That's fine with me" telling her, "Well, with that settled..." trailing off just a little to stretch out his arms, "I better go look around for something we can munch on tonight"

Hesitant, just a little bit, she watched as he slowly made his way off, until, "Wait!" stopping him in his tracks. As he turned slightly to face her, wondering what she meant, "Juvia will assist..." coming up to him, "That way, we can get it done faster, and perhaps fill up on water...?" while it was true it was a logical and sound reason why she wanted to come with him, the truth of the matter was what she wanted to find an excuse to tag along.

"?! You're leaving me here?" a little shocked, the exceed was a little terrified that he was going to be left all alone to watch over their things, "W-What if something scary comes by and eats me while you're both away?" feeling a little teary, he was too afraid to full on cry and just stood there in shock.

Feeling a little guilty, she patted the exceeds head, "Mm... would you feel better if Juvia put you in a water dome while we're away?" asking him, "Juvia promises if Happy is brave, she'll get him a nice fish all for himself" clearly erasing whatever fear was plaguing Happy.

"Hmm..." thinking a little, "That would make it easier..." shrugging a bit, "Sure! That way we can rest a little sooner" grinning at her a little sheepish, "We'll be back, Happy!" telling his brave little companion.

Smiling, she made her way up to him after grabbing the gourd and canteen as the two of them ventured out into tropical-like forest after Juvia placed a water-dome around Happy to assure him nothing would get to them while the two were out. She knew that she told herself that she wouldn't be so clingy around him, but since the night the two of them spent together gazing at the stars so close to another, she felt she needed to keep making more excuses to get that feeling again. Things like fetching water to start their day, or even peering at what he was making, even if it was his job for losing. Sometimes, like earlier today, she had pretended that he wasn't washing just to sneak her way closer.

-[x]-

Night slowly fell, and when the two came back, they both worked together on cooking the food, prepping it, basically just getting things in order before they ate. It was a nice way for them to end another day out in the world, just doing what they could to find places to improve on their abilities and see how they could managed to push through. Looking back, she was surprised that after being out with him so long how things quickly changed, though she shouldn't considering that even though he and Gajeel used to beat each other, the two of them were more or less friends, or at least frenemies as she thought them to be.

"Natsuuu!" calling out to him as she cleaned the fruits a little, "You finished dressing the meat like Juvia instructed, right?" making sure. Usually she had no complaints as he was more cooperative with things like this, but it was still a question she felt the need to ask here and there.

Tired, he rested against the ground next to the fire with the meat cooking, "Yeahh.." tiredly answering her, stretching, trying to distract himself.

It was hard for him to stave off his innate desire to just cook it as much as he wanted and eat it that way, but he more or less did it because unlike Happy, Juvia probably wouldn't have been happy about it and it was already a little late for them to go trucking back in the woods. Looking up at the sky, he felt his eyelids grow heavy a little, having used up a lot of energy during the day under the hot sun and the rest traveling and his mock battle with the water mage. With what energy he had left, he curiously passed a glance over to her, watching her focus a little with the fruits. It was like looking at the sun. After it burns into your mind you couldn't help but want to see a little more often.

"Huh?" through the corner of her vision, she saw him again looking at her, but as she looked up, "Do you need anything, Natsu?" asking him curiously, but again, he looked away, this time staring at the sky.

He was frustrated a little, and he didn't know why, "Not really..." yawning just a little, "Just a little tired, I think I'll go to sleep after we eat" turning over to the side to face the fire.

It was a little confusing for her, as the more she wanted to know about what was going on through his head, she felt that he wasn't going to tell her no matter what. Still, it did make her slightly happy that he was trying to steal glances here and there. She had figured that if the dragonslayer were to have feelings of any sort, he wasn't going to come clean about it. Heck, the only times he was honest with her were a few times when she'd ask him outright about things, but didn't necessarily press him to be specific. Before, when he had said he was a little jealous of Gray, she wanted to know what he meant by it, and if there was anything serious about it, how long.

"Hmmm..." making her way over next to him, "Perhaps just a little longer then we can eat" looking over at the meat cooking, again just an excuse to be close to him once more, "Until then, keep a close eye, okay?" smiling at him a little bright, making him a little flustered.

Eventually it came to a point to where the food was done, and as the three of them ate under the sky once more, she found that it was no different from how things usually were. Natsu was just as excited to eat, as Happy was probably mentioning something that got him flustered to a point, and overall she began to feel even warm the more she got to do this with him. However, as the night drifted along and they rested, they set up a place to sleep, much like he said he was, and she placed them in a water dome as a little experiment. As much as she wanted to sleep as fast as he did, she couldn't help but feel restless, facing him as she watched the dragonslayer and the exceed soundly sleep.

-[x]-

As she awoke the next day, she rustled around a little, feeling the direct rays of the sun must've meant that some point during the night, her spell must have worn off. A little unnerved, she tossed a little more, until she felt she ran into something, taking her by surprise. Waking up slowly, assuming she must have tossed in her sleep and made her way against a tree, only for her eyes to force themselves open for her to make sense of what was going on. Next to her, just a breath away, was the dragonslayer, sound asleep on the ground. Falling back a bit, she fell up against a tree, lightly hurting herself in the process.

"Ach..." wincing a little, she rubbed the spot of her head. She was still trying to make sense of the situation, her heart racing. However, her little tumble caused a stir in the dragon's sleep, watching as he slowly made his way up. "A-Ah... Good Morning" smiling, trying to ignore her little mess up, "Sleep well?"

He looked slightly a mess, a little bagged under the eyes as he looked around, "Not exactly..." rubbing his eyes a little groggily.

"W-Well... Juvia can go find something to eat if you want" slowly getting up, "We can probably find a good direction to head, and get a good start Juvia thinks" a little excited, "You can just wait there and, Juv-"

Interrupting her slightly, "Er..." keeping his gaze away from her, a little embarrassed, "If you want, I can come with..." it wasn't bitterness that was coming out, but it felt something like a grumble, as if he was still frustrated about something, but it conflicted with his interests a little, "Like you said, we could get it done faster... so..."

"..." taken back a little, she was a little shocked that he was taking the initiative to do something for once, rather than her just always seizing the opportunity to. "Sure" smiling a little warm, she waited for him to get up as the two of them walked off to find something for the morning.

She couldn't deny right now that she was happy, feeling the little glimmer of hope she had slowly getting bigger. As they talked and discussed what the two of them should make for the morning, she subtly got a little closer to him, her hands held behind her back. It was nice, seeing the look on his face brighten up as they continued to talk. For a while she had seen him a little frustrated, a little more than she had wanted, thinking it was something to be worried about. Whatever it was, maybe at some point they'd be able to talk about the things on their mind. Everything was just another step closer to her wishes being answered.

=[O]=

 _ **Some hours earlier...**_

Sometime turning the middle of the night, he couldn't sleep, tossing around a little restless until he finally woke up. The night was dark, making it a little hard for him to see if it wasn't for the light of the fire somewhere close. It was probably a little too early for him to have gone to sleep, but with everything that was going on he couldn't think of another excuse other than that. Around him, everyone else was fairly already asleep. Happy wasn't too far away, dreaming and talking in his sleep about wanting to catch the biggest fish. Juvia, on the other hand was just within arm's reach of him, soundly asleep. Wondering to himself, he sat up and crossed his legs, resting his hands on his ankles as he stared down at her with his eyes half closed.

" _Well, It's like... you know" she was sitting up against the tree just opposite of him, her knees just within a comfort grasp with her arms, "When you think of that someone that they're always on your mind... they make your heart race,... and you're always happy even on the saddest of days, that's why you try to spend so much time with them, being around them as much as possible"_ remembering what she had told him, _"Juvia doesn't know really" smiling a bit embarrassed, "She's just saying what she feels"_

The way she looked, for some reason, had always lightly entranced him. Though, if he were honest it was more than that, she was a nice person, always caring and willing. There were times she was a little overboard, but she knew how to make a person feel wanted. Before he had thought she was just some creep that was, for some reason, always following Gray around, forcing her presence no matter what. It was something he couldn't yet explain or figure out, because it had been a while since he felt something like that. Even then, even with Lisanna he wasn't sure what it was he felt, or why she acted the way she did around him. But what really bothered him, he began to feel, was that she had always felt this way around Gray. Spending so much time with her, he's gotten to know a lot about this girl who would always follow and stalk his friend, and while he didn't think much at first...

"...Gray really is stupid, Juvia" whispering in just a voice only he could hear, closing in slightly, trying to contain his fluster.

He could hear fairly well, a lot of people would have forgotten that or didn't think much. So it wasn't a shock to him that he had heard her cry out, yelling out to herself that for some reason she kept confirming out loud that 'Gray was her beloved'. He's heard her cry, trying to hold back because of her strong love for him. Angry, he was trying himself to restrain from that thought. It bothered him though. If Gray knew this as much as he just did, why did he always push her away? The more he thought about it, the worse his mood got.

"Well... can't do anything about it, I guess..." annoyed, he sighed and went back to go back to his, "I wish I could-" stuck, he felt his scarf being held, and as he looked, he noticed she must have gripped it while he wasn't paying attention, "..." seeing as she wouldn't let go, he sighed a little, "I suppose It wouldn't hurt..."

Putting his plans to punish Gray later, he carefully moved and lied down beside her, closer than they were originally. He could feel her presence much stronger than before, causing the rhythm of his heart to distort more than he was used to. Warmth began to smother her, followed by a strange sharp piercing inside of him. It was just for tonight, he would think to himself hearing her breathe a lot clearer now that he was closer. It was a little frustrating; he had to admit, as he wasn't sure what kind of person he would be if he got in the way of her strong feelings for the ice mage. At some point he needed to find Gray and perhaps punch him enough times until he understood the torment he was putting Juvia through. His own feelings didn't matter. If he could see Juvia's happiness through, that would be good enough.

* * *

 **A/N: Darky Dark Darkness here! :D YEAH GUESS WHAT?! I made this 64% different from the storyboard! UGH. Well to be fair the original was goign to be a little more dramatic, and then you would all have pitchforks, torches, sonic screwdrivers, Avada Kedavra,..ettc after me. So maybe the story taking a different turn wasn't so bad after all. Yeah this was a doozy of a chapter, primarily because of how the next chapter was planned to be. I rewrote this actually as I didn't like the first time I wrote this, feeling it would be a better set up for another chapter. Oh wells. BUT FEELINGS EW. I think Juvia was being a little more stalkerish like she used to maybe? Dunno. Writing Natsu having feeelings feels like a challenge because how do you write someone who doesn't like admitting things to showing feelings? (Really...It's really rreally easy, Darky) damn it. Though it kind of sucks Natsu isn't picking up on the fact she likes him. I mean it seems pretty obvious. NEXT CHAPTER... I don't know what'll happen (You wrote the storyboard already, Darky) SSHHHHH, no spoilers. (NATSU AND JUVIA BECOMESS_-) SUPER BESTIES AND BROTPS! No, but seriously I don't know what'll happen. The story says f- you to my storyboard ideas half the time. Anywho! Till next chapter. As usual, let me know yours thoughts, suggestions, if you hate me (thats fine), if you love me :O (oh you), or just want more NaVia (That works too). Darky Dark Darkness out ;;;;;3 :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	8. Confession

**Chapter VIII: Confession**

* * *

Standing on the sandy shores, the two of them shielded their eyes from the sun so that they could see the sight that before them. It was a little different from what they were used to, but during the midst of their travels they found themselves back to where they went to just before the Grand Magical Games. The air was fresh with a cool breeze as the touch of sand under their feet was a nice change of pace for once. The other good thing was that Juvia was surrounded by a place she could adeptly use her water and practice her water-make a little more thorough instead of constantly refilling the small gourd she should be using to keep herself hydrated for practice.

"Phew,... it's been a while since we've been here" commenting with a large smile, "Though,... it feels like being here just brings up painful memories" his expression dying. The last time Natsu was here, the young dragonslayer was put through unspeakable torment just under the guise of having Ultear unlock his second origin, "The place of unhappy memories..." sulking a little, probably remembering something else as well.

Taking this opportunity, catching his expression, the rain woman grabbed his hand suddenly, "Come on, Natsu!" saying with a warm smile she began running off towards the shack, "Juvia can't wait to get into the nice cooling water" she was excited, not entirely because of the opportunity of a nice swim, but also because she felt this was her chance to finally spend some time with the dragonslayer that didn't involve training or scouring around for food.

Sure they were going to eventually have to call it a night and check in sleep, but considering they had such a large 'romantic' place, as she saw it, to themselves, this was a great way for bonding. Lately, the dragonslayer had been slightly frustrated about something, noticing that while he poked glances at her here and there, he also seemed a little stressed about something. It was kind of upsetting, she felt, knowing that he was fixated on something but didn't, or couldn't, speak to her about it, making her feel left out and pushed away. While it was a bonus that he would make an honest effort to be around her more often, such as helping her look for food or even cooking, there was also a side that likely bothered him.

"Today's the day!" she thought to herself. While he sat outside the small building, asking if she could have some privacy for the moment, she poured out all of her things, trying to see what she managed to bring. Amongst some of the things she packed, considering she was in a bad mindset at the time, were simple things such a change of clothes if needed, something to sleep in, and small pots to cook in the outdoors, "Mmm..." contemplative, she looked over what she had in deep contemplation, until her expression died, "...Juvia didn't bring anything for this" sighing, "Unless..." was she daring enough to do that?

Fumbling around with some of her clothes, she wasn't sure herself what she was going to do, but seeing as this was an opportunity that she needed to take, she began to 'alter' some of the damaged clothes she kept after the incident. It wasn't perfect, but this was probably going to be the last chance she would have to probably do something for the pinkette after all he has done. Keeping a glance over at the salamander, she felt a faint blush after thinking what she was about to do, even if there were worse things that she had done in the past.

"All right, Juvia's done!" announcing, she made her way over to him who caught wind. "So... what does Natsu think of Juvia...?" asking, she slowly made her way out in front of him so that he could get a full view of her, "It's not perfect, but,... Juvia did what she could have done"

Initially had been sleeping or resting on his side, waiting for her to finish up with what she had been doing. "It looks fine,..." mindlessly answering her, yawning slightly as he rose up to sit, facing her, "So,... what did you...-" before he could finish his sentence, he interrupted himself as he caught full view of the water mage in front of him.

Before he had just mindlessly answered her, not knowing what it was she was talking about, but, as he paid notice he couldn't help but feel mesmerized by her slightly. He wasn't sure what it was. Growing up, he had always seen a lot of skin because of how adamant Erza was about sharing a bath when they were kids, it was to a point where he wasn't so bashful at all and could be calm around the scarlet knight when they were in the baths. Lucy herself was always showing skin for one reason or another. Though, Juvia's slightly pale skin that flushed up against her makeshift two-piece, coupled with her long azure hair caught him off guard. He could see the Fairy Tail stamp on her thigh more clearly because of this.

"So...?" she was taking advantage of the lack of words he was giving as he began to fluster, "Juvia takes it that you like it?" kindly smiling at him with light embarrassment. She held her hands behind her and lightly fiddled as she began to enjoy the effect she was having on the pinkette.

However, he refused to acknowledge it, or so he believed. "Yeah,... it looks okay" flustered, he averted his gaze from hers so that she couldn't clearly see his face.

It was working, for the most that she knew currently is that him taking glances at her now and then weren't just out of curiosity. The small things made her feel slightly appreciated a little more, knowing that there was a chance if he were slightly interested in her. Standing there in front of him like the way she were practically made her feel a little nervous. Her heart was racing slightly, and she was feeling tense just being around him like this.

-[x]-

Taking the initiative, Juvia dragged Natsu out after letting him place his things alongside hers in the cabin. She knew that this time of his being out was so that he could train and get stronger, but seeing him tense and lightly frustrated had made her a little worried considering he didn't want to talk about it. There wasn't much they could do, but for the time being she thought it would be nice to relax and take in the atmosphere so that the two of them could relive a little tension before going back into training. Seeing that he was a dragonslayer, she had to cross any sort of romantic boat rides off the list, knowing that he would get dizzy and sick just from the fact he was on a mode of transportation.

So, to begin with, Juvia had proposed that the two of them would play in the sand, building castles and what not. She felt a rush of her child-like self come back as she sat in the ground, slowly beginning to sculpt things, "This is turning out great" thinking aloud to herself, "How about you Natsu?" asking, she took a moment from her project to look up at the dragonslayer's progress.

"..." he stared in contemplation as he looked down at what he was supposed to do, rather, how he was going to do it, "I really have no idea what I'm going to do" smiling a little soft, "It's been a long while since I've done this" sheepishly grinning, he scratched the back of his head. Seeing that he was out in a beach-like area, he used the scarf around his neck to wrap around his head. Alongside her, he didn't have something he could use as swim trunks, so he had just made what he did with an old pair of pants, and left his top with their stuff.

Beside him, his friend Happy was already sculpting away, "Natsu~ Why not do this?" proud, he moved aside to show that he was making the guild. It was a little shocking how the little cat was able to do something so delicate, it even left Juvia shocked.

"...Are you building a sand statue of Carla?" narrowing his gaze, the dragonslayer noticed the next piece of work his friend was making.

A little teary, the exceed sniffled a little, "I'm just building a monument in case I never see her again with Natsu leading us to nowhere"

"We're not leaving forever!" correcting his friend, he felt a little odd how everything seemed like this was going to be the end for the three of them.

Seeing the two of them, Juvia couldn't help but laugh a little to herself as she continued to just mindlessly sculpt her castle. The feeling of the waves and the ocean sounds washing up the shore really calmed her as she continued to do this, "So Natsu,..." calling out to him, "When was the last time you did this?" remembering that he said it's been a while.

"Hm... when was it..." thinking a little, it had been a while since he had done this but it was hard to think of how long, "Well, it was a loonnnggg while since then" smirking a bit, trying to figure out what he was going to do, "I think it was when I was with Igneel" telling her, "I lived out with him in the wild for as long as I could remember,... and one of the places was beside a shore like this" piecing it together, "I have to admit... having a dragon dad was freakin' cool"

The way he spoke was loving, but also filled with a hint of bittersweet. Like her friend, Gajeel, Natsu was a dragonslayer who was raised with a dragon parent, unlike some of the dragonslayers around like Laxus who were merely given a dragon lacrima to become a sort of 'artificial dragonslayer'. It was kind of exciting to hear the kind of things dragonslayers experienced with their dragon parent but also saddening because near the end when F.A.C.E. was destroyed, all the dragons, except for Acnologia, had moved on into the afterlife. Natsu was no different, and if he were the same as Gajeel who felt the loss after feeling abandoned, it was a surprise to her how gentle the salamander was towards her still.

"...What kind of things did you do with him?" asking him, hesitant on whether or not it was an appropriate question to ask. Where she was still curious about the kind of like he had, she was still unsure whether or not she was forcing open old wounds.

Thinking for a moment, Natsu was keeping his focus slightly on whatever it was he was making in the sand, "I don't know, normal family things?" little embarrassed, "We slept out, ate,... he taught me magic,... how to read and write... well uh... to a degree" remembering that his failing to master the latter portion was what led to Erza being Igneel 2.0, something that was easily another slight horrific moment in his life, "Ah... done!" proud of himself he stood up in victory.

"Oh? Juvia has finished hers too!" smiling she got up and dusted the sand off of her hands.

Curious, the dragonslayer carefully moved around his and made his ways to see what she made, standing next to her to see what she had made, "oooh, that's pretty cool" using his hand to block the sun from his eyes, he looked at the sculpted thing, "...That's the uh... the..." thinking his hardest, he tried to discern what it was, "Crocus?...Uh..." he was contemplating hard.

"It's the stadium of the Grand Magical Games" she embarrassingly told him, "Right next to it just a tower" though in reality it just looked at a large protrusion of sand with a stick as a flag, "Why what did you make?" looking over, she saw two large messes of sand, "Uh..." she was more baffled than he was, primarily because one of them looked like a giant pile of sand, next to one that had some shape, but it was so much bigger that he tried to make it into a large sort of,... "Oh!" guessing, "Is that Igneel?" asking about the one she thought kind of looked like a dragon.

Excited, he smiled large, "Yes!" he was happy that probably for once someone was able to discern what it was he was making, "Come I'll show you"

Grabbing her hand gently, her heart jumped just from the touch, causing her to blank slightly the moment he pulled her. Because of this, she tripped over the sand castle, and with his continuous pull, had fallen on top of him, breaking both of their creations by accident. Though, the more troubling factor was the fact that she had fallen on top of him. Sure, there were the couple times they slept close, though that was only because he just happened to have gotten that close somehow overnice, not that she complained. The last time she felt this pressed up was back when her memory was slightly hazy from losing control, he had gently held her to calm her down. However, this time she was conscious, face to face as their eyes locked with another. Her heart was racing, flushed as she realized how close they were. Was her heart doubling? No, she had picked that he was having the same reaction to her.

Finding it hard to swallow, she felt stuck in the same trance as he was, feeling herself slowly close the distance, following her instincts. Though, just as she felt his breath upon her lips, sending her heart into chaos, he had quickly blocked their lips from touching, gently holding her up as he fidgeted himself out. Confused, she watched as he had his back facing her, "A-Ah... sorry" apologizing to her, the only one who could see what he was doing and how he looked was the exceed who looked in slight shock, "I think I forgot something back in my bag... and I think Happy is saying he wants to go swimming, right pal?" using his friend to escape the situation.

"Wha!?" terrified, "Don't throw me in the ocean just for your own convenience" a crying comically out of fear that he felt was just being used for selfish purposes.

Facing him, she was still a little lost on what had happened, though she could see him react to the exceed, "Come on! If Carla was asking you, you'd agree in a heartbeat!"

"But Natsuu, I didn't bring my floaters" crying as the dragonslayer chased right after him.

She didn't know what to make out of the situation. On one hand she was hurt that he had blocked her, but on the other she wasn't sure why he had done so. He was feeling the same thing as she did, right? Recalling that he was just as flustered as she was, and for a moment, she thought she saw a little movement on his part as well. It confused her, and mainly tore at her slightly why he had stopped her. Holding her lips just slightly, feeling the possible what-if. There wasn't a lie, she felt. The space between their lips felt to her like they were sparking, heating tension, but still, it bothered her that if he felt the same, why he would stop something like that.

"I think it's because he still thinks you love me" hearing a voice, she jumped back on the sand as she saw the illusionary Gray again sitting next to her, "Why are you still so shocked?"

A little confused, she wasn't sure why she was still seeing him, "Juvia thought she got over you!" confused, "So why is she still seeing you?" asking the hallucination.

"Because you're having doubts again?" correcting her, he just looked at her like it was a slightly obvious answer, "The more doubts you'll have the more I'll be here so..." it was almost scary, feeling like instead of this being a hallucination of betraying her feelings, it was like she was being haunted by any sort of guilt there may be.

Sighing a little, she huddled to herself, watching the dragonslayer and exceed swim, rather, the exceed flying away from the pinkette. "Juvia doesn't know what to do" telling herself, rather, what she felt was a specter, "She was hoping that maybe it would sort itself out,... so she wouldn't have to do anything" admitting, "It feels like Juvia's doing all the work" a little troubled.

"Well... stalking... forcing yourself onto me,..." listing all the things she used to do to Gray placed her in embarrassing shame, "That seems like you've been doing all the work from the beginning" reminding her, "What was the one thing you haven't done?"

Mumbling a little, drawing in the sand a little, "Juvia's afraid of that though,..." pouting slightly, "If Juvia gets a bad answer, she's going to feel a little ridiculous for thinking the way she's been"

"That's always better than being conflicted right?" standing up, the fake Gray stretched, "Just get it done with, tell him you're in love with him, you had no problems telling me that over and over" smiling at her encouragingly, "He's right there" pointing over to the salamander tiredly dragging himself out of the ocean, the exceed feeling triumphant over his victory.

She was scared, knowing that if she didn't outright tell him how she felt nothing would change, and if she did, there was a chance it could go horribly wrong. Though, the hallucination was right, if she was going to eventually get over this she needed to accept any answer that was given to her, whether it was a good one or positive one. Filled with confidence, or what little she could get, she made her way over to him quickly. It was a little relieved that he hadn't tried to run away like he used Happy as a excuse to flee earlier, but it also meant that she was going to upright tell him how she felt.

"Natsuuu!" calling out to him with a big smile. Having his attention, she came to stop, "Juvia... Juvia has something important to tell you!" determined and filled with vigor, "She...she lo-" however, just as she was about to come out right and tell him, she made slight eye contact with the exceed beside him. It was then she remembered what happened, and how the flying blue cat quickly deduced she liked the dragonslayer, and she could see that in his eyes that he knew what she was going to say,...or it was just her imagination.

Just as he was about to speak, "Natsu Natsu!" calling out to his best friend. Lightly intrigued, he changed his focus to the little flying cat on the ground, "I think Juvia lii-" again, before he could finish, she rushed over and covered his mouth, holding him in her arms.

"Juvia liiikkeees..." a little terrified, her vigor was destroyed because of a cat, "to swim" replacing it at the last second, "Do you,... mind if we go swimming?" asking him kindly, "Juvia can give us oxygenated air bubbles so we can explore the whole underwater!"

Interested, his eyes lit up, "Really?! We haven't done that since... since..." thinking, it was a little hard for him to pinpoint how long, "It was the Tower of Heaven,...so 7?...8?" it wasn't that he didn't know how long, it's just to him, being stuck in the Fairy Sphere for seven years all felt like a second to him, or a couple days, "Either way, it's been a while, so sure!"

Relieved, she waited as he made his way back into the ocean before she stared down at the cat, "You... can't tell Natsu" telling him, "Juvia'll do it... she just needs..." she didn't want to outright say she needed help, especially from a blue cat, but she couldn't find the words to do it, "It has to come from Juvia..."

"Mmm..." she couldn't outright hear the exceed because she had his mouth still shut just in case. Though the look on his face looked as if he was slightly willing to help her out.

Relieved, she had let go of the exceed who kept silent. She wasn't sure whether or not he'd follow suit, but for the time being there was at least no worry about Happy going about and spouting it before she had the courage to do it herself. Though, regardless, she was determined to do it, she just needed a perfect time to do it, perhaps when she knew that they could be alone without anyone, or perhaps a little exceed around, probably ruining the moment. It terrified her, she wasn't sure why, but she felt like it was because it was the first time she felt so attached to someone, well, someone that didn't always push her away, that even the slightest bit of rejection would have a possibility of crushing her.

-[x]-

The day was long, as the three of them had spent a lot of it swimming in the ocean. With her ability to create air bubbles, there was no need for them to rush back up to the surface for air, so they spent a while swimming and just overall exploring some of the things that the ocean had to offer. Like, they had seen so many coral reefs, fishes, a couple times they ran into sea predators, but compared to Natsu who didn't turn down anything short of a challenge quickly took care of them. In fact, they wound up being dinner fairly easily, killing two birds with one stone and it worked in their favor. As night came to pass, they set up a fire a good spot away from the cabin they were in and not at all near the ocean.

"It's so peaceful out here..." she commented as she held her legs up against her chest. Sure for the past months they've been all over, but here was so fresh and secluded that it felt calming for her. Nothing but the cackling of the fire and the sound of the ocean waters brushing up to the shore could be heart. Looking over to face Natsu, she noticed Happy passed a look.

Stretching, "I'm gonna go to sleep" Happy said, yawning, "It's been a tiring day being chased at all over the beach"

"Ehh?" caught off guard, he watched as his friend left, "You're going to bed already, Happy?" asking.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly he slowly began to make his way back to the camp, "Yeah... it's tough being a friend to a mean dragonslayer who chases me all day" comically joking with his friend.

"I only did it once!" feeling insulted that he was blamed entirely for the whole thing, "Oh wells then,... Night" Sighing he just turned his attention to the fire.

It was just the two of them under the open sky with a crackling fire. Huddled up behind her legs, she felt her heart beating a little loud, and her face a little red just thinking about it. How would she approach it? She wasn't sure if she should bring up something and then slowly transition into telling him about her feelings, or just outright telling him. It wasn't like with Gray where she'd just bombard him with her love and casually say 'Juvia loves you' but, she also didn't know if people _could_ confess to him. She remembered a while back before the situation on Tenroujima that Natsu and Lisanna were a 'thing', but was also told that she herself didn't have the courage to tell him she loved him.

"So... uh...Sorry about today" she heard him speak, breaking her out of her thoughts, "I've been thinking about it... well not sure how long, but..." the next words he was about to say caught her entirely off guard, "You know... Dragonslayers have great hearing, more or less" he told her, "And lately,... I've been hearing you've been a little... it just seems like you miss Gray a lot" he kept his eyes focused on the fire.

Looking back, she hadn't realized that every time she spoke to the 'fake' Gray, that Natsu was listening in whether he liked it or not. "Juvia does,... kind of, but..." it wasn't a complete lie, over the time she spent with him, she had missed the presence of the ice mage, but the more she spent time with Natsu, the more she began to enjoy and love his company, to a point she'd forget all about Gray. "That's not the ca-"

"I can find Gray and take you to him if you want" cutting her off, "And... if he does something stupid like be mean, I'll definitely give him a good punch in the face for you" smiling bright at her, "Well... I've been meaning to punch him a couple times anyways so it works out for the both of us, right?" for some reason he felt assured that was the right thing to do, as if it was something she was wanting from him. "I put the popsicle fairy in his place, and you get to be wi-"

She couldn't take anymore of how wrong he was. Always, he was always getting it wrong and assuming. But it was because she chose to be quiet about her feelings. She had admitted before that she was confused, but what hurt the most was that he wasn't picking up on what it was she felt for him. "JUVIA LOVES YOU!" spouting out, cutting him off his words. Realizing what had just transpired, she quickly covered her mouth, preventing her from saying anything like that again. Her heart was racing, faster than she had felt before.

"Wait..." a little confused, he wasn't sure what to make of what just happened. It was strange, "...What?" he was never told these words before, at least, not seriously, so he wasn't sure what to make of this when the water mage suddenly spout this out. Especially, since as long as anyone has known, Juvia was always in love with Gray. "W-What about..."

The look on his face was something she had never seen, making her unsure whether or not he was happy to hear what she had said or awkward. Still her heart picked up pace as she averted her gaze from him. Closing her eyes, she got up and took off, running away before he could process what had just transpired. She didn't know why she ran, or why she kept running. Perhaps it was because she feared so much about how he was going to react that she kept going. Flashes in her mind began replaying the last time this happened, the reason why she was left heartbroken in the first place. She was hoping that he wouldn't find her, but he could track her by her scent if he wanted to. The question was, would he?

* * *

 **A/N: (Folks, Darky Dark is hiding behind decentanium...and plot armor) So uh... what a chapter right? xD To be honest ahah..hahaha...hah... (When their chapter is documented as 'Dontkillmenavia' there might be a reason why it's named that) I had wanted to include this in the chapter previous, but that chapter went on soooo longgg and I still had this, I wasn't sure how much to incorporate the ideas i went with this one. The ending...really was different, but as I wrote this and came to this I thought "Well... it's been a week... gotta give em something and at least something good to read" and there are some GREAT writers who don't hit a wall, but once i feel like i've hit my theme for a chapter it's like "Okay... well if I put more I feel like it'll just feel rushed and even i would feel offended by it" and there was a lot more I wanted to do with this particular ending as especially this whole thing between Natsu and Juvia. (And Darky's brother suggested Cliffhangers are amazing). It's been finicky because its a person who's dense about such things vs obsessive 'love at first sight' so I kind of wanted her to feel a love that's sort of 'new' and with it a new fear? probably am stupid for it, so i'm sorry ^^; SO uh... for now you get this ending, and next chapter will be a direct continuation. more or less. So uh. love you all..ahah..hahah... ha... ^^; :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	9. Open Feelings

**Chapter IX: Open Feelings**

* * *

 _The skies were bright and sunny, but the tension between the two was silent and cold. They had just come back from burying his father in the icy tundra, and he still needed some time before thinking about the next step was going to do. For now, she felt a little relieved that he wasn't trying to shoo her away, but perhaps it was because she was able to support him just by being there. It was hard for her, watching him like this, so consumed with grief and anger; she wanted to do anything she could to help him through this. Unfortunately, she herself couldn't really say anything. Even though she was thanked for putting his father out of his misery of being controlled by a demon from Tartaros, it still began to eat at her, knowing that she was responsible for this, even if it wasn't a malicious act. She wanted to break this silence between her him, between the ice mage she had loved._

 _"Everyone's leaving" Juvia began to say, hoping to get the ice mage to talk, "Juvia heard that,... the guild was destroyed,... that there was no place to go back to anymore" saying aloud she faced the open river that was just before her, "What's... dear sweet Gray going to do...?" slowly facing him._

 _There was no doubt that the ice mage still had that on his thoughts. "I'm going,... To defeat E.N.D." telling her, coming to the conclusion, "To do that,... I'm going to have to leave here as well... until I manage to gain the power I need to defeat him" It was his father's last dying wish, that he would use the power given to him to defeat and destroy E.N.D._

 _There was no saying what kind of ultimate demon E.N.D. was. The only information they had was that Zeref's ultimate creation was a fire demon, hot enough to melt any ice. It became the reasoning that Gray's father, Silver, had frozen the Giant's place and Atlas' flames simply because he assumed it was the fire demon in question. Though, now that he had a clue about the 'Book of E.N.D.' Gray was determined to do everything in his power to defeat the demon, so that his father could lie in peace._

 _However, with everyone and Fairy Tail going their separate ways, for the most part, and the guild itself destroyed, there was no other place for the rain woman will go. "Then,... Then Juvia will go with you!" she stated, determined, "Wherever dear beloved Gray goes,... She'll go-" though before she could finish her declaration, she was cut short._

 _"No" telling her, Gray had abruptly cut her off as he stood up, "I can't bring you with me, Juvia" he had told her. He was shaking. It wasn't out of anger, but out of fear. "I don't what'll happen,... and I cannot put you in danger." he made an attempt not to look at her._

 _She couldn't believe what he was saying. It wasn't that she was hurt by his words, he was only looking out for her, but. Without him, there was going to be nothing left. Fairy Tail was gone. The guild was disbanded. Everyone was gone or went on their own. There was nothing left for Juvia to stay, nothing aside from the one who she was in love with. And. That scared her. The thought of being alone again with no one, and the worse of it was, she didn't know how long it was going to be, or if she was ever going to see anyone again. Especially her dear beloved Gray._

 _"I-It's okay!" telling him, standing up with determination, "Juvia'll be okay, she promises" assuring him, slowly she began to reach out to him "So please,... don't leave Juvia behind,... Juvia lov-"_

 _He had heard her enough. Over and over, it played in his head all the times she refused to listen to him. To do things against his will. Spilling out the same 'empty' words. There was something inside him, eating at him, but it was almost like it fed off of his frustration. "JUVIA ENOUGH!" making an attempt to lightly tap her hand away, he had come to realize it was more than just that._

 _His arm was covered in pitch black, the same as when he used 'Devil Ice Slaying' magic for the first time against Mard Geer. Looking at what he had done, he noticed that in his anger and frustration, spikes of ice had forcefully separated the two, and that she was on the ground in shock. The bench they were sitting on was slashed and covered in a large flick of ice. Terrified at what he had done he ran, without looking back, until the water mage could no longer see his back. What had just happened? Never before she thought that he would do something. It hurt. Not just because of what had happened, but also the fact he just ran. Out of fear. Out of regret. He left her._

-[x]-

Zoning back in, it was a while since she had visited that memory, and for the time it had been since she had never told the dragonslayer the full truth of what happened between her and Gray. There wasn't a reason to tell him, she felt. Gray hadn't done it out of malice, nor did he do it to hurt her intentionally. But. The fact remained that the pain of abandonment, and how the two of them last exchanged words left a thorn in her heart. 'I Love you'. The very words she last spoke to the ice mage, were the same words she dared spout to the dragonslayer. Holding her legs up against her chest, resting her chin on top, she had wondered about all the things in her life that had been going so right for her, to have come to a sudden stop. However, when she began to think about it, what was her reasoning to even say those words to him? It had only been a few months, something trifle to the time she spent pining after his friend's love.

It was so cold where she was, just like that day. Using all of her mental strength she made sure that it wouldn't rain so that her location wouldn't be given away. Heck, she herself didn't even know where she was. She just ran, ran like the ice mage who didn't stop once to check to see what had become of her. "Juvia's so... she's so" thinking to herself, she cursed herself lightly. Why was she always in this situation? Her love had always brought her nothing but pain. This felt like it was no different. "Natsu..." tightening her hold around her legs, "He was so kind to Juvia,... but" her eyes grew weak in her attempts to keep them open.

"Juviaaa!" the voice in the distance snapped her out of her thoughts. Rising up, using the light of the moon as her only guide, she looked to find a tiny flame in the faint darkness. "I know you're out there!" calling out to her more.

Her heart, caught in the thorn of darkness began to beat, aching with pain but filled with warmth. Why did he come for her? The look on his face when she confessed was neither happiness nor discomfort. Rising up, she had tried to follow through, but stumbled lightly from a sudden pain that shot in her ankle, forcing her to sit back down. Thinking, she might have pulled it slightly when she decided to just randomly run in the dark, not paying attention to where she was stepping. Still, she was happy that at least the voice and the flame were getting louder, closer. It wasn't much longer until he made his way, seeing him up close.

"Natsu,..." calling out to him just lightly, a little surprised, "Did you,... come for Juvia?" asking. It was a stupid question, she knew. There was no doubt that he would have come all the way out, looking for her it wasn't for her at all.

A little tired, he stood right next to her. He was using his magic to light his fist on fire and use it as a guiding torch within the darkness. "Wha...Of Cou..." stumped, he was confused why she'd ask him such a question like that. Sighing, he gave up trying to process it all, "Of course I did!" or not. Feeling that she had at least earned that, he stubbornly looked at her, "You just ran off in the dark! You could have gotten hurt!" feeling that he had gotten it out of his system he relaxed slightly, "Come on,... Camp's that-a-way" pointing behind him with the other hand that wasn't lit.

"...Juvia thinks she twisted her ankle…" she had wanted to follow him up, but still, something was holding her back, "Natsu,..." calling out to him, looking out towards the ocean, "Juvia... feels a little guilty" a little weak, she wasn't sure if she could face him, "She,... didn't really tell you the entire truth" admitting, "Rather, she felt it wasn't important to tell you because she didn't know Juvia would feel this way..."

He didn't say anything; instead, he allowed her words to linger on knowing that it must have been important. It wasn't a mystery to why she was a little gloomy, well, he had just taken it was because she had shouted out a confession before bolting off like she had. There was no way he felt he could tell her to stop, but rather, he simply looked around a bit, and quickly, he made a small fire place and lit it on fire. Taking a seat down next to her, he awaited for her to continue on with her story.

"You see..." she began to say, finding it a little hard to face him, "Gray... Juvia's sweet beloved Gray left her back in Magnolia" explaining to him, her heart ached as she called him that once more. "She knows that,... he was scared and in pain, but... what made Juvia so sad was that he just kept going. Running. He didn't stop once to look back to check up on her" explaining it to him, "And... it hurt" her pain was searing through, just remembering it all. "Juvia had so much love to give... she wanted to help Gray but" why did it hurt her? What frightened her so much? "That look in his eyes when 'it' took over, the anger and the darkness... was so cold...Juvia... Juvia didn't want to be alone" she couldn't hold back as tears began to manifest once more, "Gray was gone. Fairy Tail was gone. Everyon-"

However, it was then Natsu interrupted her. "Fairy Tail,... is gone?" the shock was large for him, "What? That can't be" he had thought, that for the longest time there was going to be a place for him to return to.

"Natsu,... didn't know?" she asked, managing to quell her tears for the moment. Seeing him shake his heads lightly, she faced him slightly, "Fairy Tail... the guild was destroyed,..." informing him, "Master Makarov said... it was time for 'his children' to spread their wings and fly out on their own".

It came to a shock to him, taking the breath out of him. Looking back, he began to remember all that was there at the guild, the people he loved. The things they had done together. It was quite a shock to him that just like that his home was gone. Falling back to the ground, using his hands folded behind his as a pillow, he stared at the sky.

"...When Igneel... my father, passed away,... it devastated me. Heck it's the whole reason why I'm out here in the first place" telling her, gazing at the stars, he began to recall all the memories he had with his dragon father, "I watched when Acnologia took him... the dad I was looking for for so long was gone so quickly..." hearing him speak, the water mage's eyes opened in shock, "So,... I left. I wanted to get stronger, because I was tired of seeing everyone I cared about leaving me like that,...And now the guild is gone too huh,..." he couldn't deny that the pain took its toll on him, but to honor his father's wishes, he promised he was stay strong. "Well..." rising back up, he stretched out large, "I guess that's another thing I got to do when I get back" instead of being devastated like she assumed, he looked rather exhausted, "...I got to find everyone again,..." worn out, he sulked just a little by merely thinking about how difficult it was going to be.

"You're not... Upset?" surprised, he looked at her. Did nothing bother the dragonslayer? "Juvia thought Natsu would surely be sad knowing that Fairy Tail is gone..." thinking, "You watched Igneel die,... and lost your guild... everyone,...! How can you be..." the way he was still kind and gentle confused her.

Looking at her, a little curious, she wasn't completely wrong. "Well... it's not that it isn't upsetting..." admitting, "It still sort of hurts, especially hearing about our guild. But, I promised Igneel I will stand strong. I will make him proud and get stronger to defeat every bad guy,... Zeref, E.N.D., Acnologia" assuring her with a determined smile. It was then he moved over to the side, showing his guild stamp on his right arm, "And as long as I still have this, Fairy Tail will definitely come back" smiling large at her. His face, and courage, beamed its way into her, starting to thaw her frozen chains, "Then,...I'll get everyone to come back. That way, you'll have everyone again. Even Gra-"

"Natsu..." cutting him off, she got his attention. "Juvia... doesn't want Gray" admitting to him, "She..." even though she had just admitted it earlier, and it was still hard for her to come out with it. Tensing herself, she gathered her resolve and faced him. Natsu was strong and gentle, the warmth that began to inspire her. This time, she wouldn't back down, "Juvia,... loves you." Calmly, she faced him, wanting to face him with courage this time instead of running off. However, she still wasn't given a response, "Does... Natsu love Juvia...?" shying away, it was a little more difficult this time.

Looking away for just a moment, she noticed there was an awkward silence forming between them. He hadn't given her a straight up rejection, but at the same time he hadn't answered her. Was he trying to find a way to reject her without worry about her feelings? Right now it was hard for her to tell, but, as she looked up once again, she noticed something fairly funny. His face was burnt, red much like the scarlet-haired woman they both knew. However, the look on his face looked like he was trying to process it, prompting her to laugh and giggle a little to herself. He was in deep contemplation, and looked a little irritated as if he knew what it was but as close as it was to him, it was still so far away.

Taking this little lapse in his response, she moved over, and rested her head against his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly from his spot. "Juvia..." taking a moment, she moved slightly, turning her head to loosely look up at him from the angle. He was still frustration slightly, a little flustered still, "I..." her heart was racing, both awaiting and fearing the next thing he was going to say. Pausing slightly, he simply exhaled, "I'm not completely sure how,... or what that is" he admitted to her, smiling a bit embarrassed, "I only learned what love was,... this kind of love,... what it meant... not too long ago" her expression fell just a little, feeling it was a little too much to expect, "But..." bringing her hopes back up, "You're a good person" he began to tell her, "It's been so much fun having you around me out here. Training,... eating,... camping. And for some reason... my heart starts beating faster and everything feels super warm when I'm around you" saying, keeping his eyes from meeting her. It was adorable, she felt, watching him fluster as he spoke his mind "And... when you told me how it felt to love someone, and knowing how much you felt that way about that ice fe- Gray" strangely correcting himself for once, "I felt jealous. Like... He was so lucky, because someone so amazing, sweet and kind,... felt that way towards him"

"..." flustered a little herself, she felt her heart twinge just listening to him. Keeping her gaze focused on her knees, "What about Lucy, or Erza?" she asked, knowing that the two of them were always around the dragonslayer, she was sure that one of them must have liked him, or in the worst case scenario on herself, he must have liked one of them.

Somehow, the words she said terrified him, "Are you kidding me?!" a little scared, "Lucy yells at me all the time" he didn't want to think about the times Erza terrified him, "And Erza,... well" he looked like life began to escape him just from the thought of it.

The two of them sat there in silent, except Juvia who burst into a light giggle, just thinking all the possible things that could have happened in that scenario that would give the pinkette just a dreadful look. It was warm, she felt; her heart began to melt from the thorns that wrapped itself around her that imprisoned it for so long. Looking at him, her expression fell warm and sincere, looking at him. Wanting to try, just slightly, she rose up slightly, and pressed her lips up against his cheek, holding it there for a moment longer than a few seconds. Until she was content, she held it there as he wasn't pushing her away, something she thought he'd do.

Breaking apart slightly, she faced him nervously but attentive, "How did... Natsu feel from that?" his face was redder, surprisingly far more than hers was. Her heart was beating louder, having done something like that for a second time, she just awaited his response.

He couldn't speak. The way he looked was as if he was about to burst from embarrassment, but didn't have the strength enough to move away from her. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was in a trance, just a bit as once more she pecked his cheek, her heart racing faster, skipping just a little bit more. She was happy she could do at least this much, but there was still the lack of acknowledgement on his part. Her heart craved for the words being said to her.

However, after a short moment he had gently stopped her, "Juvia..." managing to call her out, holding her softly by her shoulders. The look he had was a little frustration mixed with excitement, "I'm happy... you love me" he began to tell her, "But,... I want you to be sure of it" telling her. She understood what he was aiming at. For him, it felt like a sudden turn of events that one second she was in love with Gray, then the next she was in love with him. He understood that much. Facing her, he honestly confronted her, "I like you,... at least I think" labeling these emotions was something new to him, "It sounds a little silly, and I'm sorry... I just want to give you, and more importantly myself, a little more time" it was then he pulled her into a gentle embrace, "I promise you though, I will always be here" the words struck her, "-"

Her eyes shot open and began to shimmer lightly as the words he spoke set her heart aflame. She took the words in fully. It wasn't a rejection, but from how she took it, it was just to help her continue reaffirming her feelings. Get things straightened out now that everything was out in the open. At the very least, she was happy that her feelings was met, even it was partially. Still, it was a little disheartening to hear it, but at the same she was at least happy that there was a burning ray of hope waiting for her. Faint tears began to form as she returned his embrace, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

-[x]-

The next morning came, and as the sun peeked through her closed eyes, she rose up slightly to have found the two of them had passed out sometime in the night. Was it all a dream? Holding her head lightly, she looked to find the dragonslayer sleeping right beside her. Smiling, remembering the night before, she fell down, using her hands to prop her up, cupping her face as she lightly began to fawn over him. Her heart kept a steady pace, beating twice as it normally should, but she didn't care. Even though they had promised to take it slow for now, just so that they could reaffirm their feelings for another, she felt a little struck, the words he told her resonating through her head. Unfortunately, as she lied there, gazing upon his sleeping face, they were interrupted by a flying blue cat.

"Naaattttssuuuuuuu... Juuuvvviiiaaaaaaa" she heard him yell out.

Because of this he began to stir in his sleep, and as the constant yelling came out, the sleeping dragonslayer slowly began to wake up. "huhh...? Hmm...?" looking around, he woke up to find Juvia 'staring' at him as he slept. "..."

However, the rain woman had no problems with what was happening, "Goooood Morning, Dear sweet Natsu~" chipper, she greeted him happily with no problem.

"..." taken back by her behavior, he began to sense something terrifying about this, "G-Good Morning,..." replying back, trying to ignore how close she was watching him, "D-Did you just get up?" asking her, a little startled by her behavior. However, she simply just smiled at him and shook her head a bit, "I-I see..."

The voice of the exceed could then again be heard, "Natsu! Juvia!" sounding like he had found them, the little flying cat had flown down to them, probably saving Natsu from needing to ask her further, "Natsu, Juvia...AHH!" suddenly his eyes shot open as he noticed the two of them were close, "Natsu you big meanie, you left me for Juvia!" sad by the false assumption, basing it on the fact Juvia had passed a sly look.

"Eh?" dumbfounded, he looked at his friend a little odd, "I didn't leave you for Juvia,... she was sad so I had to come look for her,... though" It was then he fell, contemplating a little more, "I'm guessing we've passed out though" coming to that conclusion, "Well... Seeing that's it's early, should we head back, Juvia" looking towards her.

A little embarrassed, she looked to him, "Y-Yeah..." agreeing with him, she made an attempt to stand up only to fall back down, "AAh!" wincing a little she fell back down, "Natsu... my ankle still hurts" putting up a sad troubled face.

"..." he felt a little skeptical about it, but remembering from last night how she couldn't move there wouldn't a be a reason she would be lying. "All right" lowering down, his back facing her, "Hop on, I'll carry you back" telling her.

Wincing slightly, she grabbed hold of his back and did her best crawl onto him, "Th-Thank you Natsu" relieved, she rested onto his back.

"No problem" smiling bright, he wrapped his hands under to support her as he rose up. Flustered a little, he tried to contain himself as best he could, feeling him pressed up against his back.

The three of them made their way back, the little exceed floating alongside his friend. She was happy, her heart accelerating as she felt herself pressed against him. It was like her body was on fire, feeling the heat from the pinkette transfer to her. Holding him close, she felt all the nightmares melt away. There was something new for her to look forward to now. It wasn't definite, but now she dreamt of her sweet beloved dragonslayer whisper the words back to her, coupled with the words he spoke to her last night. She couldn't deny that earlier when she had awoken, she feared it was all a dream, but being here now seemed more dream-like.

"Juvia?" she heard him call out to her, "Can I ask you something?"

Fluttered, she instinctively tightened her hold around him a little more, "Yes, my dear sweet Natsu?" dreaming happily.

"...Your ankle is fine isn't it?" bursting her bubble lightly, catching her little secret, "I can tell because you're swinging your legs and moving your feet around" she didn't have to see his face to realize what it looked like, she could tell by the dull tone in his voice. "Sigh,..." exhaling a little, "…You're lucky you're not Lucy", giving her the impression he would have dropped the celestial mage for pulling this stunt.

Seeing that he wasn't going to drop her, she simply held onto him a little more, relaxing herself onto him. She wasn't sure how long it was going to take for him to say those words back to her, but for now she knew that he held some feelings for her, and that was enough for her right now. The warmth she felt from him continued to burn through her, just thinking about the words he said. It was a dream coming true, and if she had to just dream a little longer to see the rest, then she could happily do so. Carefully, she increased her hold onto him slightly, resting her head against him as she creepily began to drift. Slowly, she felt her old self returning in full, and since so far he didn't mind, she wondered how much she could do. Well, for now, she had to return back to the present, it was bad enough her mind was starting to breach into wedding scenarios already. It was then Natsu Dragneel was starting to understand what his friend had gone through with her.

* * *

 **A/N: FINALLY. This thing went through seven (Darky, you only did it 4 times) eight rewrites! I honestly wasn't sure how to go about this primarily because I had intended this chapter go be all about 'admitting things' and coming out with everything. The other problem was that I originally had Juvia break down and cry like in the beginning, but...I couldn't have brought it around to everything elseee so Ughh... (Darky smacked their head against the wall) Also yeah... I put them in a trial relationship, I thought it would be cute for them to build on their feelings still but test 'how it'd be'. Also, IT WAS SO HARD NOT MAKING GRAY SUPER HORRIBLE. I wanted to come up with a reason why she was so distraught and devastated and turning Gray into an *sshole seemed a little mean so I played around with a fellow fanfic writer and we decided 'what if it was just a mistake/accident? and he just left out of fear and regret for his actions with the whole devil slayer magic taking over' which this scene was. But yeah... It feels so long since I first wrote them being just guild mates to this. I moved up the Fairy Tail disbandment thing mainly because I also felt it was an added 'mishap' that played a role and why Gray leaving was such a huge thing. Well... I hope you guys liked it! :zzzz: time to rest, Darky Dark loves you all~~~~ :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	10. Bubbling Feelings

**Chapter X: Bubbling Feelings**

* * *

It hadn't been that long since the night Natsu and Juvia settled for 'taking things slowly' between them so that they could better understand their feelings for another, and surprisingly the water woman was taking it quite well. For now, it was dedicating what time they could during the day to continue training, as it was the original purpose of the trip they were on. Seeing as they were at a beach like environment, they felt it was a cool place to settle for a short while. Though, one of the bad things they eventually came to understand was the lack of good resources around them. Unlike before, they were in the pure wild, having sources of food and what not available to them without too much worry. However, being out here was slightly more difficult as their camp could be a little farther out than before. It wasn't too much of a stretch, but sometimes it had meant that the two of them needed to plan a little more in advanced. Some of the nearby towns were also still an option if they needed, but it was likely farther, and they needed to save their funds for when they really needed to.

From the morning up, the two of them would run back across the length of the beach with their respective footwear on. It wouldn't have been bad but the two of them simply wanted to be cautious about avoiding cutting their feet, especially since they wouldn't be able to disinfect it, and the pinkette didn't feel comfortable cauterizing his 'somewhat' new lover's foot. Since they weren't too used to it, they took it at a slower pace to just adjust before taking it up a few notches. It wasn't too bad. After their short break, the dragonslayer would ask the rainwoman to help spot him, and after he had finished, they'd switch and he would do the same for her.

Holding his feet steady, her job was to keep track of how many he had done and to assure he wasn't cheating in any form of way. "Alright, I'm ready~" telling him with a light smile on her face. Watching, she found it a little difficult to concentrate however, as he rested his hands behind his head, pulling himself up for crunches, "1,..." counting just as he came forward, "2,...3,..." this wasn't the time or the place, but she couldn't help but feel distracted by him. "No, Natsu is counting on you, Juvia" mentally snapping herself out of it, she continued keeping focus on the task he had given her.

"Juv,...?" keeping himself up, taking a short little break, "H-How many was that...?" gasping a little for air. He had trained hard before, but this was one of the rare few times that he did this after running on the beach for quite a while. "Juv...?" calling out to her once more, looking at her a little worn out.

A little embarrassed, she felt guilty, "S-Sorry..." ashamed, she felt a little glum with a light fluster on her face, "Juvia was,... too distracted by the sight of her beloved that she lost track of the number" hiding her face a little, "Juvia accepts all forms of punishment!" the guilt overwhelming her.

"It's fine" catching her off guard, she peeked a little from between her fingers until she slowly removed them from her face. To further assure her, he planted his hand on her head gently and petted her slightly with a large smile, "You must really love me though, don'tcha?" smiling bright at her.

Her face burned and flustered a little from what was happening. Feeling his lightly rough hand pet her made her heart quiver, speeding it up as she tried to contain herself. "Juvia does,..." a little embarrassed, finding it hard to admit it straight in front of him. She hadn't yet experienced what it felt for someone to at least accept all of her feelings, so the thought that the dragonslayer and easily accepted them given their situation took her by surprise. "Does this mean,...Natsu isn't mad at Juvia?" looking at him a little timidly.

"Juvia..." giving her a gentle look, "It's fine" assuring her once more, he rose up and stretched outwards a little, "But man that's sore! We've been doing this for what,... a couple weeks? And it hasn't felt any better" despite the pain he was feeling he somehow managed to put on a smile like there was nothing wrong in the world. "How about it" looking at her, "We spend the entire day training, then maybe go around find a little town for us" looking up, "Happy!" calling out to his friend sitting in the hut.

Fluttering out, a little worn and tired, the little exceed looked over at him, "Yawn~" tired he fell a little before smacking himself awake, "Yes, Natsu?" asking his friend.

"Well... this'll be a little mean of me..." scratching his cheek a little, nervously smiling at the blue cat, "But do you think you can scout out the nearest town?" he asked his friend, "You don't have to go far, but any nearest town will be all right" specifying just a little.

Mulling over it, "Mmmmmmm...Fine~" agreeing, "But! You have to buy me a super yummy fish!" crossing his arms, turning half way, peeking lightly to see if his friend could bite at the demand.

"Fine fine" agreeing, "Hurry up and look for one" not wanting to drag it on longer. Knowing his friend, unless he quickly agreed, the exceed would continue to make slightly more demands. Excited, his friend happily fled off without worries in search of a close town, "Well... I guess taking a job there wouldn't be too bad" a little bummed that it was going to be interrupting what little relaxing time they could get.

The water mage looked at him in confusion. From the beginning of their journey he had always tried to avoid going into town unless it was absolutely necessary like if they needed to pick up some supplies, spare set of clothes, or even if they were in light dire needs of food. So, hearing the fact that the dragonslayer had opted to go into town, something probably out of their way baffled her. Was he getting tired of living in the outdoors? It had been a few months already, so she could understand if he was dying for something modern. Hell, secretly she had been wanting a little time being able to take a hot shower, but she dealt with it primarily because she didn't want to bother him, at the time she already felt guilty for tagging along.

Feeling the need to ask him, she held her hands behind and leered in, "Um,... Natsu?" asking him. She waited for a bit to assure she had his complete attention, despite how bad it could be, "Are you getting tired of training out in the world?" asking. She wasn't sure what was on the dragonslayer's mind, but she had hoped perhaps that because of how close they have gotten over the time they've been on this journey, that hopefully he wouldn't be feeling so secretive and would speak with her about anything she needed to know.

"Hmm..?" looking at her a little odd, his hands on his waist, "No not really..." answering her, "It's just I wasn't too sure how much I could get done" expanding on his answer, "See... it's like Happy said. I didn't really have an idea what I was planning to do once I set off. Though,... It's not that what we've been doing was a waste of time either. I simply just think should do what we can now, find a good place to stay after, then go out" hoping that he at least made a little sense, because honestly, he wasn't too sure if he was. "Every now and then I want to see how much stronger I've become... so I can use that to gauge how much harder I need to train, that being said..." he dropped to the ground. It was difficult a little for him to get a good holding since it was sand and not much of it made for good holding, but he did his best, "I'm going to aim past 100!" smiling a little large, "Juvia! Get on" feeling riled and ready to push his limits.

"R-Really?!" her eyes beamed as she happily rushed over to him and lied on his back, pressing against him, holding him closely to her. Taking in his sent and feeling, she made sure that no part of her could slide off so that she wouldn't disturb the pinkette's training, "Juvia's ready~" smitten.

However, he hadn't moved a bit, "Uh,... Juvia,..." a little dulled with her action, flustered a little, "I meant sit on my back..." correcting him, "You're kind of..." he wasn't sure what the words were, but either way it was distracting him from what he was going to do.

"Mmmmm... But Juvia likes it this way!" pouting, lightly complaining with him as she held onto him a little tight, "Natsu's just going to have to deal with it" standing up for her actions.

Sighing just a little, he relaxed, "If you do this for me, Juvia,... I'll uh..." pondering what he could do to gamble with the rain woman, he realized there was no other option, "I guess... you know..." a little flustered, "...We can...tonight" finding it difficult to say.

Knowing exactly what he was getting at, she held a little tighter, "...Tonight and tomorrow" bargaining with him, feeling a little fluttered, "Natsu has to be Juvia's...warm bear" her face dyed red, she pressed her face into his face to avoid the feeling of her expression being exposed out to the open.

"..." realizing, that he hadn't immediately responded, she peeked out a little, noticing that steam was pouring from his face as it lied buried in the sand. He didn't know why it was so difficult to accept it, seeing as they had already done so once before. Though, recalling that night reminded him that this time he'd have to be even closer to her than he had planned. It was hard setting limits, especially since the person he had to set limits with was someone who was, without a doubt, fairly aggressive with her love. "...Fine" caving in.

Her heart jumped just imagining it as she happily got off of him and changed her position. Crossing her legs on his back, she faced his general direction as he got to work. However, because her heart was having a little too much joy in being accepted like that, she had to assure she didn't fall off, and instead 'locked' herself around him with a variant of 'Water Lock' she had created. It was a little difficult considering that perhaps some of the challenge was balancing, but she knew he didn't mind, or he'd have said something. His persistence inspired her; it always had since the moment their journey started. Even if it was painful, or he ran into a wall he couldn't move, he would force past it, determined to push through no matter what.

As the day continued to pass by, they took a light break as Natsu spotted for Juvia. Fueled by his spirit every day, she pushed as hard as she could to do the same. Mock training. Conditioning. It was fairly different from what she was used to, but she wanted to push as hard like the dragonslayer. It was a disease, she felt. Racing across the rough sand, morning and night, made every bit of her legs and feet ache more than her body. She had always watched the pinkette, pushing hard, and maybe, perhaps after _that_ night, there was a part of her that wanted to see the road that lied ahead for them. Though, as they lied on the warm sand looking at another with a smile, their bodies in pain, she began to love the thrill of pushing through to the unknown.

-[x]-

Following the exceed, her heart was a little racing, wondering what they were going to do by the time they reached the city. Were they going to explore? See all the sights the city had to offer? There were endless possibilities fluttering through her mind the more she imagined it. Their bodies were still a little worn out from their usual morning run across the sandy beach, but the thought of being able to relax soothed her, and what more, being caught up in his arms. He had still promised an extra night of being her 'warm bear', meaning that tonight she would be allowed to feel the thrill of snuggling with the warm dragon in a comfortable bed, the thought of that sending her mind to mush.

Eventually, they arrived in the town led by the exceed. It wasn't large like Magnolia, but it was definitely bigger than the village they had stayed just a few months ago after the encounter with the fake 'Thunder God Tribe'. The town was bustling, with people going around place to place, or sitting at places while they ate. Nevertheless, it was a huge change of scenery for them as usually it was isolated with just the two of them around. However, considering then she could have Natsu all to herself, she couldn't necessary say it was entirely bad.

"Well, it's been a while, hasn't it Juvia?" smiling, he used his hand to block the sun from his vision as he eyed out the city, "Not sure what we'll do first, but what do you say we find an inn or something?" suggesting, "That way we can go get something to eat,... or look around without any worry of struggling to find a place".

Nodding, "As long as that's what you wanna do, anything is fine with Juvia" saying as she lightly clung to him to the side. "She just wants to be by your side".

At that point it was a little hard for him to move as she had completely 'locked' him into an embrace on the side. It wasn't that it bothered him. Every time the water mage would have done this he felt his heart acting up a little more, the more she did it. Feeling a fluster muster up, he simply avoided looking at her and simply patted her on the head, thinking that it would suffice enough for the time being. He had to admit that since accepting her feelings, she had become a little more touchy and, well, doing her best to stick up against him whenever the opportunity would arise. Sometimes he had sworn her scent tickled the air whenever he'd wash off for the day, and it had felt she was doing her best to commit as much detail of him as possible into her memory, as if she was trying to replace all of Gray with him.

Though, as much as he enjoyed this experiment of theirs, as well as the warm-loving care she was displaying, he was soon reaching his limit. Gently, he pushed her aside, finding it hard to face her as he was a little too shy to admit that she was starting to make attempts to meld the two of them into one. Unfortunately, some of the times he did this, he would realize that perhaps he had come to realize that what he was doing was almost like an act of rejection, to which he would have to keep his hand on the top of her head to assure that he wasn't 'entirely' reject her. This, would often lead to her trying to get back to him, to which he'd have to hold her back with his hand rested against her forehead.

"Mmmm... no fair!" pouting, he could hear the rain woman lightly complaining to her, "Natsu's sending Juvia mixed signals again!" being blocked by his hand, she tried reaching out to him to no avail, trying to hold and embrace her dragonslayer once more.

Slowly, bit by bit he realized the real challenges that somehow his friend was able to endure with. Just at that moment, a loud explosion occurred as fire spread all over not too far away. The three of them stopped what they were doing, and paid mind to what was going on before rushing off to the scene. People were screaming in fear as people rushed out to the area as fast as they could, trying in their hopes to see if they could help if necessary. He couldn't tell if it was a strange coincidence, but he caught a strange familiar scent in the air as they made their way over, and when they reached the source of the flames, he began to understand why something about it seemed familiar.

Making their out of the smoke were three people lightly obscured by the smoke, as they heard the charging footsteps of the rune knights that were probably in the area. Two of them were large muscular men, with a young woman just between them. Awkwardly enough, the two of them fell into a lightly dulled look as they realized who they were. It was the fake 'Thunder God Tribe' they had encountered a few months ago back near the beginning of their journey. Eventually, it wasn't long until the three had caught a glimpse of the two and froze for a moment, recognizing them as well.

"Y-You!" the girl had pointed out at them, "What're you two doing here?!" frustration built as she lightly glared over at them. If they had remembered correctly, they felt assumed that her name was 'Dos', and she was the one whom was dealing with Juvia previously. However, they were soon brought out of their little 'shock' as the sounds of the marching knights came to sound, "Argh,... never mind!" frustrated, "Stre, Nuo! Break past them!"

Stretching out, dropping his stuff on the ground he turned to face the oncoming assault, "So... I'll take out one, you get one... who gets the third one?" loosening up a little, he paid focus to the rain woman beside him.

"Juvia just wants the woman" she told him, "But she supposes whoever wins first will be allowed to claim the last one and win" telling him. "If Juvia wins, however,... well Natsu will just have to wait to know what she gets as a reward~"

Dragging the bags together, to keep them in one place, the little blue cat plopped onto the, "Natsu... I got a bad feeling about Juvia..." mulling over a little, he began to play a little all the things that she had done to Gray in the past.

Before they started, he inhaled all the flames that were spread across the area, effectively halting their progress and simultaneously refueling himself. Lightly dreading what the rain woman had in mind, there was no way the pinkette could lose against her. They weren't sure how much the other three had changed over the course of the months that had passed, but what they did know what was that the two of them had trained hard as they could after seeing how much of a hard time they were having. However, this time things were different as they felt they were a little more confident that their strengths from last time had greatly changed and improved, setting this to be a little 'revenge' match from last time.

Rushing off, the two of them went to their respective targets, one of the larger, muscular looking guys for Natsu, and Dos for Juvia. It was an odd sensation they felt, as their bodies were still lightly in pain but they still had the belief that things were different from last time. Increasing her speed via hydroplaning, Juvia had alternated a fair bit between leaving a trail of water and cutting off points so that Dos' lightning magic. She could tell that she had trained as well, probably annoyed that from their last enough to try and work past their barrier and work on getting revenge as well.

"Stay still!" angered, Dos, "Lightning gun!" throwing her hand forward, barrels full of tiny little spears made of lightning manifested and darted at her full speed. It should have been easy; her opponent was made of water after all!

Swerving, through the corner of her gaze she could see the dragonslayer punch back some of them with everything he had, adding bits of his fire dragonslayer magic into the mix to increase damage. Something like this had happened before back in the village, but at the time, he was deeply enraged and she had assumed they worked hard too since then so that the same would not happen twice. Though, she was fairly upset that the other had once again, followed suit and joined in Natsu's brawl, meaning that if she wasn't quick enough she wouldn't get to win. And she was fairly annoyed by that fact.

"Pay attention!" enraged, her opponent was getting bothered she was not getting enough attention from their one vs. one fight. "I swear! You're just being so anno-"

Annoyed that her opponent was yelling, "Quiet!" whisking her hand, she used her 'water cane' to knock Dos with enough force to turn her around, before clenching her fist, "Water Lock: Restraint!" Water soon burst from beneath and grasped around the female mage's legs, binding them in water-pressured locks, "Don't you understand?!" a little upset, "Juvia's going to lose, and she won't get priority over her Sweet Beloved Natsu! She was going to have him do all sorts of things to her!"

"Wait, what?!" hearing that, the dragonslayer turned to face her with a shocked look on his face. He had just caught a strike from one of them, Stre, after kicking away Nuo, "Juvia, I _really_ don't want to know what it was you were going to do" narrowing his gaze at her, he kicked away Stre before following it up with a violent breath of fire. "Sheesh, now I really have to make sure I win".

Distraught, Juvia was close to crying now that her efforts were for naught. Frustrated, she darkened her look slightly at the female lightning, mage. Throwing her hand forward, she casted, "Water Nebula!" large violent spouts of water sprung from the ground, converging and crashing into her in a multi-helix style, launching straight into the ground. "Bullet Storm: Rainfall rev.!" Spheres of water manifested, launching themselves like bullets and coming down like pouring rain, striking Dos down to the ground in a flat second.

Luckily, Juvia had laid out a water dome to 'catch' and secure the fallen thunder mage before she could hit the ground. However, looking over, she had already seen that Natsu had already taken down the other two as both of them were lightly burnt. He had a smile on his face, but the fact that he had beaten the two of them had thoroughly upset her, which made her pout and cross her arms since she had wanted to win this and get her wish. However, it was already a little unfortunately that she let slip her 'main' reason for wanting to win. The little exceed, who stayed back to watch their belongings floated on bye as the three waited for the Rune Knights to make their way and arrest the fallen mages. Though, as much as they were thanked and praised for their efforts, they were also still likely scolded for wrecking and destroying the place, especially from the pinkette.

-[x]-

Night began to fall as the three of them were finally able to reach their inn they were going to stay in for a short time. As thanks for their efforts, the three of them were given free stay at one of the town's best inns. Along the way to the inn they bought some extra fresh clothes for them to sleep and change into once they were done, alongside with something to eat before they relaxed for the rest of the night. They were finally able to rest and relax for the day. Things didn't quite go as they planned, but for the most part they were happy that it all ended without too many problems, aside from the light damage properties that had occurred during the apprehension.

Juvia sighed in happiness as she finished feeling the water rinse her off before getting out of the shower. Drying off, she changed into her sleep outfit before making her way out to see the dragonslayer and the exceed happily resting on the beds. Unfortunately, the only room the inn had left was a two-bed room, and seeing as how she was going to further her goal of her plan to 'make Natsu fall in love with her', this was a light wrench in her little scheme. Though, she was happy enough that she was able to still spend the night with her dragonslayer.

Sitting on the bed, she rustled around, enveloped by the warmth, "Natsu...?" yawning a little, the comfy feeling of the bed took her by surprise, easily relaxing and lightly tiring her out. "Na...tsu...?" leaning up a little, she had noticed that both him and the exceed had passed out lightly, probably taken aback by how soft the bed was.

She couldn't deny that she was a little upset he had forgotten that he owed her another night in the bed, but for the time being, she had felt it was alright considering they had managed to get past the mages without much difficult. Though, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed he hadn't said anything it. Over the course since the last met the two they had definitely gotten stronger, something she was surprised to see. This was just the brunt of it too, she felt. If they had started the same regimen from the beginning, who knows how much stronger they would have become. Oddly enough, she felt a little weird thinking about the 'beginning' of their journey together.

Resting her eyes, she began to think about all the things that had happened, and if she were her from back then, she never would have thought about falling in love with the pinkette. And the words he shared with her last night that sparked her soul, words of acceptance and love. Maybe she was getting a little ahead of herself, she began to feel. She was happy, she knew that much, but was it just because he was so nice to her? Calmly breathing, she understood a little more why Natsu had wanted them to take it slow and figure these things out. Why was it? Could she pin point a reason why she loved him?

"Juvia?" she felt a like shake, startling her away, "S-sorry" smiling a little embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head, "I fell asleep without waiting you,... but maybe I can still make due on that pro-" Before he could finish answering her, she pulled him into the bed, lightly embarrassed her compulsion had done so. Curled up a little, she wasn't sure what to say or if she could face him after that, but her body burned with warmth as she felt him hold her lightly against him. "You were pretty cool out there, Juv" she could feel and sense how excited he was saying that, "I really need to step up my game, don't I?"

He was praising her. Even though he had taken out two of them, she didn't know why he was complimenting her on something he probably could have easily done. "N-No...Natsu fought off two of them,.. that's something to be more amazed of...! J-...Juvia's only taken out one person".

"Well, she was obviously tough wasn't she?" smiling, "You weren't even trying and you managed to take her out" telling her, "Don't sell yourself short, Juv" encouraging her, "We're gonna get so strong... that..." he trailed off.

Looking up, he had fallen asleep, just making her admire his sleeping face as her heart began to beat faster. That was why, she felt. He was a monster, destructive whenever he fought. However, the more she remembered, this past few months, she saw the kind, warm side to that 'monster' that could easily break out during fights. She made her feel warm. Loved. And for some reason, there were many, she felt absolutely safe. No matter how she cried, or caught in the frozen depths of her pain, the warm fire he let out would melt it all away. Lightly grasping his chest, huddled up against her, her heart sped up a little as she leaned up. His breath tickled her lips, sending shivers through her body as she held it there. Just as she was about to take his lips, she froze, remembering what they had promised, and inside lightly touched the corner of his lips of his cheek, before nestling into him and falling asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: ITS FINALLY UPDATED. (Darky is sorry) SO VERY SORRY. XD. I've had a lot of annoying things happening lately and sadly it'll be getting a little more like it later on. However I will try to keep this going :). Yeah... I also wrote an extra Edo Erza chapter, just 'cause I WAS SO EXCITED. And I dunno, I got super distracted. Sorry! So yeah! I wanted to introduce a little peak into Natsu and Juvia's early stages before hitting their 'main relationship'. I've wanted to kind of evolve Juvia's character a little more, keep her a sort of stalker and obsessive person, but also a little more mature in her reasoning? Something liek that. I mean she's going to still have stalker parts of her, but it's gonna be less creepy... well, just a little less maybe? xD I also kind of wanted to introduce a little more to show Natsu and Juvia's growth, so I reintroduced the same three people and the hint of maybe they've gotten stronger or not, but i felt it was a good scale xD. ALSO JUVIA HAS MORE SKILLS. even though they're all just tweaks of her old ones! xD. Anywho, I might take a light break I wanna rest a bit after binge writing so much the past week or so. (Darky's head wants to pop) ;w; so so much (Darky's gonna write a billion more words and pages) nooooooooooooooooo :sobs: (Darky loves you all~ :heart: :heart: :heart:)**


	11. Fluttering Spirits

**Chapter XI: Fluttering Spirits**

* * *

Another day had passed while the two of them rested within the nearby town from their training spot. While they had made their way over to rest and so Natsu could 'measure' his strength the two of them would take on jobs given by the Rune Knights after their help with the three lightning mages from when they first made their way into town. Because of it, the Rune Knights didn't seem to mind too much to pass on jobs to them regardless whether or not their guild was disbanded, though if there were any jobs around S-Class, they had no choice but to accompany them considering neither of them were 'officially' S-Class mages, even if Juvia was previously S-Class in Phantom Lord. It wasn't too bad, however, they were able to rest in a nice place, and were lucky enough to get jobs and earn some pay while they were still in town. However, there was another thing that the rain woman had on her mind. While she was content that the dragon slayer had 'accepted' her feelings and even letting her hold onto him from time to time, it still began to pester her if he was ever planning on confessing to her, or if their 'relationship' was going to just go back to 'being friends'. Sometimes he would act 'romantic' or something she perceived as such considering it was coming from him, and other times, she would feel that he was just being a good friend to her like he did with the other guild mate of his. Needless to say, Juvia Lockser felt that it was up to her to give him a 'slight push' into heading him her way. She wasn't going to lose this one.

For now, the two of them were off chasing down some bandits that had run off with some stolen merchandise, taking on the third job of the day. Since the group had split off, she had taken pursuit while Natsu 'dealt' with the ones that stood by trying to 'hinder them'. It was lucky for her that the dragon slayer was strong, or else she couldn't feel this confident in leaving him behind with such a group, but she had also wanted to do this so she could 'win favor' of the pinkette and perhaps win some sort of 'reward' for her hard work. Whether or not it would happened, she was still determined to do this job and luckily for her, none of them were lightning mages, meaning there was no need for her to be careful. It wasn't too bad. The training she had done was really beginning to pay off, as her stamina still felt like it was still keeping up. Though, a part of her felt she really needed to end this as soon as possible, so that she could get praised and what not from her 'new' beloved.

Rushing towards them, she needed to think of a way to close the gap between them without damaging the rest of the goods they were carrying with them. " _Juvia has no choice!_ " thinking to herself, she picked up her movements by hydroplaning, just to close in on them, "Sierra!" casting. In a rushing frenzy of water, her entire being turned into a rush of water that crashed down in a large torrent.

She hadn't really thought of a 'plan' but for the most part all she needed to do was catch up to them and manage to find a way to get ahead of them so that she could manage to stop them a little more efficiently. Though, while it seemed easier to just 'knock them out' right here and now, she had better plans in mind than just rush in. As she managed to rush through the cracks around their feet and legs, making her way much further ahead, she quickly reformed herself, leaving her in a 'half-watered' state, so that at least the top half of her body was back to her 'normal form'. With this, she was able to 'keep up' if needed while retaining a physical form.

"Water Lock: Wave Restraint!" casting. She had created a medium-sized tidal wave rushing from her end, and as it made contact with the runaway bandits, began to enveloped and restrain them from the top of their bodies to the bottom of their soles. Keeping firm hold, she had managed to recollect the rest of her self and keep them sustained. "Now~ Juvia will take that please~" smiling she used 'water cane' to snatch away the bags of stolen goods and bring it back her side, safe and sound.

A little panicky, one of them began to look at her, "Y-You'll let us go right?" finding it hard to even move or twitch a finger. "I mean, you've got what you wanted!...So..."

"Uh uh" puffing her cheeks just a little, a bit upset, "If Juvia lets you go, then Natsu will be upset with her!" telling them straight, "So you'll have to just let Juvia win this" telling them. With a little curious look on their faces, the water began to retreat slightly, engulfing their body, just to their shins while continuing to restrain their arms behind their back. "Bullet Storm: 1000 blow volley rev.!" casting with a light smile on her face. Though, from the bandits POV, the smile seemed a little 'dark and twisted' in a way they weren't sure how to put into words.

Just as she finished, before they could realize, what seemed like countless sphere of water materialized around them, and without warning, began to launch themselves at the restrained bandits at near blinding speed. She wasn't going to REALLY hurt them to a dangerous point, she had managed to learn and adjust the strength and pressure of the volleys accordingly. This didn't stop, however, the countless volleys of water shooting themselves off towards the restrained bandits. Each of them struck them constantly without a moments pause of rest, and considering the increase of speed and probably pressure, there wasn't much they could do to hold on. The name '1000 blow volley' was something she had thought of in case there was a large threat she needed to deal with, but just like the name, it wouldn't stop until a thousands blasts of water had finished running through. Luckily, since the volleys had increased by the passing moment, as with the pressure, the spell had finally finished through, and managed to knock the bandits unconscious.

Relieved, she sunk a little, knowing it was a little hard for her to keep a concentration over making sure that all of the volleys weren't strong enough to actually cause mortal harm. She had done what it was she had needed to do, and as she did, she caught a glimpse of someone making their way over to her, and oddly, it was a familiar sight. The pinkette had arrived alongside the flying exceed, assuming he had already dealt the ones from earlier and was picked up by the Rune Knights accordingly. Happy, she rose up with a cheer as she rushed up to the dragon slayer with a happy expression on her face.

"Natsu!" happily rushing up to him, "Juvia took out all the bandits!" excitingly telling him, "She did good right?" beaming up at him, holding her hands behind her back.

Looking over her shoulder, the dragon slayer had checked out what she had meant, and as he observed, the bandits were all restrained, a little fallen limp, and looked like they were pelted until they fell unconscious. He did not want to be on her bad side, something told him she was holding back. "Wow..." a little shocked at what had happened, "Pretty good, Juv" smiling at her, he patted her head, something she immediately fawned over.

"Juvia deserves a reward, right?" smiling up, she puffed her lips out to him.

A little taken back, he simply just pushed back by using his hand against her forehead. "Juvia got denied~" the exceed floating beside him snicked as he popped to the ground, "Got a little too greedy~"

"Mmm! " pouting, "No fair!" telling him with a light 'sad' look on her face, "Natsu's kissed Juvia so many times in her fantasy!" she began to tell him, "You should've seen yourself..." flustered, she began to reminisce her dreams, holding her face lovingly, "One day... dream Natsu is going to be real Natsu..." drifting slightly at the thoughts.

It was then Happy began poking her arms, cheeks, head, just to see if she could respond, "Uh... Natsu..." calling out to his friend, "I think Juvia's broken..." pointing out that nothing he did could break the water mage out of her 'fantasy' she was currently reliving.

"Hmm..." pondering for a moment, he began to look at the rain woman a little curiously as she was enveloped in her own fantasy. There wasn't a doubt that he had an inkling of what she was thinking about. Through out all the time he had known her chasing after his friend, Gray, she always had the same look whenever he would do something, whether he interacted with her or not. It also helped that she vocally expressed half of the things that she was thinking of while she was like this. Because of that, it wasn't hard to assume the same thing was happening for him. "Well... I guess that's that" suddenly smiling at the sight of the Rune Knights making their way. Making his way over to the water mage, he tapped her shoulder, getting a sort of 'startled jump' as something in her fantasy was probably happening the moment he tapped her shoulder, "So, Juvia" calling out to her with a light smile, "Since we're done for the day, what do you wanna do?"

Thinking, she latched onto him despite his protest, "Spend the whooollleee day with Natsu~" telling him, clinging to him despite his 'light protest', "Then a early candle light dinner... perhaps a nice stroll under the moon... then..." her face burned even more as she tightened her hold onto him.

He couldn't necessarily push her away while she was like this, and while he had known that a lot of her fantasies could get out of hand, he was at least grateful that she hadn't 'acted' on any of them in the moment since that time. Though it did get him a little curious how easily attached the rain woman could be, rather, since she was so stuck to his friend he didn't think that she'd turn her attention to him, and well, didn't think that she would attach herself to a point he thought was a 'little more' than she had with his friend. It wasn't that he didn't like all the attention, I mean any one could get used to and like it if such a caring person like Juvia was 'in love with them', but it was a little hard in the fact that he didn't want to 'disappoint her' as well. At this point, he kind of wished that he could 'figure out' all these feelings and emotions, and a little jealous that she was able to 'probably' do so without much effort. The look of how happy and 'persistent' she was about it, he wanted to understand and feel the same thing she did. Maybe then she'd feel a little less worried and probably 'less' worried about what was going to happen.

"Hey Juvia" calling out to her, catching her attention, "I was thinking about walking around town for a bit today, see what they had to offer" smiling at her, "It's not all the time we get to be in town, and since we'll probably be off again soon, might as well see what they have right?" adding a bit more to his smile.

Her eyes began to sparkle, "O-Of course!" excited a little, "Mmm..." thinking a little, she realized that the way she was dressed meant that she would need to 'up her game' if she was ever going to put her plan into action. "Actually... that's a good idea, Natsu!" suddenly coming to the idea of what was happened, "Juvia needs to go get some new 'spe-" coughing, trying to hide her blush, "She means! Juvia needs to go do something!" saying as she ran off, leaving the dragon slayer a little confused on what was happening. There wasn't a doubt that he had 'some' kind of idea what she was up to, but seeing as she was eager to keep it to herself, he probably shouldn't think too much of it.

Rushing off, she had to make her way back to the town, seeing as they had gotten some extra money from all the jobs she and Natsu had been doing, she had enough to go ahead and buy something she thought it would be 'good enough' to woo the dragon slayer. There wasn't much she had thought of, considering that from all she had gathered with her time with the pinkette, he was only known for fighting,...and well, that was it. She knew that he was drawn to always picking fights with Erza and Gray, and even either Laxus or Gildarts, whomever was available and was actually wanting to battle him. While she had spent time fighting him in 'mock battles', she still wasn't sure whether or not what she was doing was 'enough', but she had decide to try and use her feminine charms to bring him close to her. That would mean she had to try and decide whether or not she was going to to use visual charms, or find other ways to attract him and assure that he will be only hers. A part of her knew that he had wanted to wait until he could figure it out for himself, but she knew, since he didn't even know what 'love' was, it might take him a little while longer to figure out. She didn't want to take that risk...

-[x]-

She had spent a good portion of her time after leaving the Dragon Slayer and Exceed behind looking for something 'attractive' to wear, hoping that she could use it in her plan to 'conquer' the Dragon slayer and finally get him to confess to her. Though, one of the underlying problems was that she didn't know what would appeal to him the most, as from what she remembered, the pinkette was usually oblivious to the things like romance and the opposite gender, recalling that one moment he casually strode in the girl's bathroom without a moments thought, and didn't seem to be bothered about it. There was no doubt that the water mage came to the sudden conclusion, she needed to know his tastes if she was ever planning to win him over. A part of her couldn't deny that she was a little impatient, wondering how long it was going to take for him to tell her, though she also had to admit there was a little fear embedded in her that the day would never come. Filled with immense vigor, she had pushed forward into enacting her plan as she set off around town, hoping to 'stealthy' run into him so that she could follow and track his adventure. The last thing he managed to tell her before she ran off was saying he was probably going to go looking around town to see what they had to offer.

It was a little difficult for her, however, as she had to make sure he didn't see her or catch her scent, and especially Happy who could easily spot her if she was careless. Luckily for her she had planned ahead and changed her scent with something cheap she could find, hopefully thinking later she could switch it out for something much better later. Point was, she had a 'Game Plan'. Find and observe Natsu Dragneel within a good distance so she could see what kind of person he was, and if there was any specifics she needed to take down in order to win his affections completely. Just for good measure, she brought a note pad and pen, not sure where she found it, she just picked it up somewhere because this was an 'emergency' and she didn't have the time to apologize to the person she probably took it from. What mattered to her most at the current moment was being able to woo and make sure she could secure a position in the dragon slayers heart.

"How about over here, Happy?" startled lightly, she ducked down, keep her presence (mostly) hidden from view as she tried to keep track of where it was coming from. It was a little cramped where she was hiding, but it was good enough to 'avoid' her being detected for the moment as he watched the dragon slayer rush on by with his friend, "Any good...?"

Looking over, she watched the two of them converse with another, "I dunno... maybe we should have brought Juvia over" he said, talking as he gave his opinion to his friends.

"Hmm... that sounds just about right" agreeing with him, "She IS a girl, so she **would** know what girls like an' all..." it was a little suspicious, but she decided to observe a little more, "But wouldn't it be pointless?"

Shrugging, "Well if you get in trouble, then don't look at me~"

"...Wait till I tell Carla..." dulling his eyes over at his floating friend.

Watching as they left, she slowly crept from her hiding spot as she stealthily followed him from a good distance and began jotting down something on the notepad she borrowed from someone she didn't know. " _Whatever it is.. Natsu is up to something weird_ " she began to think. Thoughts began to drift in her thoughts as she wondered, " _What could he be needing Juvia for...?_ " wondering, " _AH!_ " her mind coming to a screeching halt, " _Natsu is planning to buy a gift for Erza or Lucy!_ " her eyes darkened as she imagined the scenario, " _But wait... why does Juvia's opinion matter...?_ "

More questions began to pop up in her mind in just the first observation that she was getting, and it didn't help that there were no answers she was getting back, meaning things only seemed more complicated for her at the moment. Normally, the 'old' Juvia would have instantly attacked him, and while she was still tempted to do that, it would mean her cover would have been blown and it would have defeated her original purpose, which was to stal-, no, follow, her future beloved and find out his tastes, and use them to capture his heart. Using all her knowledge from stalki.-, following, her previous beloved, Gray, that finding out what one likes and using them was a surefire way to get them to propose. She had believed it only backfired on her with the Ice Mage because she had 'failed' to do her part in securing him,...well...aside from 'that' happening.

Eventually, she had (discreetly) followed him to another stand, again, doing all she could to hide herself so that the dragon slayer could not see her, nor smell her. The fact she was silent was already a given since her years of (not) stalking, the Ice Mage, to a point that even he didn't know where she was. Something she felt she could be proud of that little 'achievement' of hers. Regardless, she needed to focus and keep an eye over what the dragon slayer and the exceed were currently up to. From the first stand, she had looked over her notes that read: 'Natsu and Happy are planning something suspicious, something that needed Juvia's advice, but Juvia has no idea what'. She had taken it completely serious, wondering what the pinkette and small blue cat were going around from stand to stand, 'looking for something', but she needed more.

" _Wait... what was Juvia's original goal?_ " blinking for a moment, she forgot what her original intentions were, "..." a little dulled, it was a little infuriating that she couldn't necessarily remember why she had the note book and pen, unless it was REALLY for seeing if her sweet beloved was 'cheating' on her. "..." Juvia was going to crush anyone who was going to 'steal' her swee-

Cutting her train of thoughts, was him speaking once more, "How about this, Happy?" asking his friend, "This looks... 'pretty' uugh..." a part of him groaned even just saying that word for some reason.

"Uhh... I don't think she would like that, Natsu..." the friend complied to him, "Can't we just go to Juvia... it seems far more easier..." groaning just a little with his friends lack of female understanding.

Narrowing his gaze, "Because then it was be pointless asking Juvia... you know how she is!" reminding him, "One thing is going to lead to another and..." his expression died just a little just thinking about it, "Well... we'll just go somewhere else then" sighing, "I still think this looked good! You know how much Lucy has jewelry, right?"

"Yeah, but just because you've seen Lucy's collection doesn't make a you a master" smiling at his friends dismay, "Besides,... Juvia might freak a little if she see's that..."

Her thoughts grew worse as she tried to envision the situation that was unfolding just before her. She was too busy scribbling and jotting down more notes on the 'borrowed' notepad and pen as she reviewed them to understand more of what was going on. First, Natsu was 'looking' for something that Happy suggested coming to her about because Natsu knew nothing about women. While it didn't make sense at first, she then looked at the second note she jotted down which was: 'Natsu is wanting to buy something, but definitely doesn't want Juvia to find out...something something, Don't trust Love Rival!' It was soon (not really) coming together what he was doing, but she still needed to know more about what it was he needed. Though, again, she looked up and realized he was already 'gone' and moved ahead to the next spot. A little panicked, she wondered where he could have gone, doing her best to 'skulk' around her hiding spot to assure that he wasn't finding her. Though, as she did, she needed to get to the bottom of this, so that she could finally find the person who was trying to seduce her sweet beloved Natsu. Biting the tip of her thumb in light frustration, she wasn't sure who they could be considering they had spent months here and there traveling in the wild with no one aside from themselves. The only real conclusion she could think of was that either it was for someone like Lucy or Erza, or some witch had brain-washed him.

The sun was slowly dawning the longer she looked for him. For a city that wasn't so big, it was awfully crowded with stands and stores here and there, and people eager to buy things. This had made it difficult for the water mage to secretly follow her beloved across the city, the fact that she spent a 'good time' of it contemplating over what had happened, making it harder to find him. Though, luckily she caught wind of the flying exceed that always accompanied him and used that as her shining north star to pinpoint the dragon slayer's location, and as usual, she made her way unnoticed to go ahead and see what else he was planning. She was close in understanding more about the pinkette's odd behavior, as she never really thought of him as the type to just 'buy things' for girls, unless someone was blackmailing him, or if it was indeed for Lucy or Erza. If the latter was the case, all she needed to do was make sure that Erza didn't destroy her, so she could sneak up and defeat her; seeing that Lucy was more or less easy to take care of.

"Natsuuuuu... I wanna go back to the room..." the exceed lightly cried as he tiredly rubbed his eyes, "Can't we just go ahead and ask Juvia's opinion?" asking him.

His arms crossed, he looked intently at what was in front of him. "Mmm... maybe you're right" sighing just a little, "This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be..." groaning just a little, "Who would have thought looking for something a girl would like be so troubling."

"I told you" the flying blue cat lightly scolded his friend, "You should have just been up and front about her in the first place... we could have had a comfy rest of the day on fluffy beds" tired, he plopped on the ground, his wings disappearing.

Stretching out a little, "I know I know..." realizing the faults his friend couldn't help but constantly point out, "But she seemed super eager to run off for some reason so I felt she needed 'her time' or something..." saying aloud, "You know? that stuff Lucy is always yelling at us about?" reminding the flying cat whenever the blonde would yell at them everything some of the other members of Team Natsu pops into her room, "Don't know what it means, but it seems oddly important if she kept yelling at us about it."

"It means they're trying to run away from you" trying to stifle a laugh, despite his friend burning with anger.

Dulling his eyes at his friend, "You and I are gonna have a talk later..."

Sighing just a little, she slumped against her hiding spot and tried to make sense over what she had gotten over the time of her 'Daily Activity' notebook, trying to piece together the suspicious activities of her beloved. Looking over it, she couldn't necessarily make out how all three things related to why he was going around all over town. From what she just wrote down, he was going around looking for something to 'get' someone something, and that he needed her advice or input because he doesn't understand how or what a girls tastes are. It still bothered her, thinking that all of this could be for some 'other woman' in his life, and perhaps it linked to why he still hasn't told her he likes her. Well, she wanted to hear 'I love you' in specifics. It was a little frustrating, she had to admit that she was falling behind some 'unknown' love rival she had, and-. Coming to a screeching halt, she had just remembered the entire purpose of her following (stalking) Natsu all day. Thinking that somewhere along the way she had skipped out on that detail because she got a little too involved in wondering what he was up to, rather than understanding a little more of his 'tastes'. Though, she began to wonder a little if she 'could' get him to like her 'that way'. He wasn't like the other guys like Lyon, or Gray. Lyon would chase her to the ends of the earth, which startled her a little, and Gray would just flat out ignore her most of the time. But where did that leave Natsu...

Sighing for a moment to herself, she let herself grow into a thinking mess until she had realized that Natsu and the exceed were no longer where they once were, giving her the assumption that she had eventually lost track of them, unless they were already making their way over back to the hotel. Most of the day was wasted as it was, since she neither found something to attract the dragon slayer, nor did she understand why he was out looking for something for someone that he didn't want her advice on, while the exceed pointed out they should have brought her. A part of her had believed that she should have just outright jumped out and bombarded him with questions, but that was the 'old' Juvia. The 'new' Juvia was more respectful and wouldn't do anything that would completely jeopardize her possible relationship with him. Feeling proud of herself that she was a step further in the 'right' direction, she decided to go forth with that feeling, and undoubtedly win-

"Juvia, what are you doing here?" catching her off guard, she jumped to see the dragon slayer dulling his eyes over at her, his hands tucked into his pockets with the exceed floating beside him, "Didn't you say you were going to be off, something about being busy?" curiously asking her.

Trying to recover from a heart attack, she was ashamed she hadn't thought or noticed his presence, what kind of lover (stalker) could she call herself if she didn't know where his location was at all times, "Juvia was just... uh..." fiddling with her fingers just a little, trying to come up with a 'reason', "She was just wanting to sleep up against this nice and comfty... ground" completely ignoring how odd that must have sounded. Crossing her arms, she puffed her cheeks a little, trying to ignore any feeling of guilt she may have had.

"...is that why you've been following me around all day?" narrowing his half closed eyes at her, "I didn't think much of it at first, but you had a tendency to keep going 'Natsu is being suspicious' and 'Juvia needs to keep eyes so he doesn't cheat on her' under your breathe."

A little insulted, "No, Juvia said 'Natsu is being suspicious' and 'Juvia needs to fight off any love rivals she may have'~" crossing her arms a little, finding it a bit offensive that he misheard the last bit a liittle.

"...Aren't they the same thing?" the exceed floating behind him said, "Juvia was funny though... she looked like she a cartoon cat hiding all over" mentioning that the way Juvia looked, was like she had large sharp cat eyes as she was skulking around.

Sighing, he dropped his hand on her head, "If you really wanted to come with me you should have said so" a little exhausted, "You don't have to 'stalk' me anymore, remember?" reminding her lightly, "Besides, it would've made everything a whole lot easier..." a little worn out from trying all day.

"..." a little guilty, "Juvia only needed to ask?" asking him with a slight sadden look on her face.

Smiling at her, "Of course" telling her, "I thought you were going to be busy all day so I didn't think much, but if you really wanted to tag along you could've just popped in."

"Mmmmmm..." pouting a bit at herself, "Finne~ Then, Natsu, can Juvia ask something of you?"

Curious, he looked at her, "Sure, what's up, Juv?"

"Juvia wants a kiss" smiling bright at him.

Dulling his eyes, regretting his decision, "No."

"Then marry Juvia" trying to bargain with him, "All you have to do is marry her and pledge eternal loyalty along with your body and soul" crossing her arms, a little upset.

A little baffled, "W-...Isn't that MORE than a kiss?!" trying to reason, he lightly 'chopped' her head, in reality he just gently dropped his hand on her head, "I haven't even said 'I love you' yet!" reminding her.

"Mmmmm! Then give Juvia a baby!" pouting at him at this point, "It's the least Natsu can do for making Juvia wait this long!"

Feeling full of dread, "...That's even more than marriage isn't it...?" sighing just a little he just pulled her hand over, "Let's just go" feeling a little tired, "Since you're here and all I can finally get you to pick something out" remembering what it was he originally was going to do with his friend. Seeing that she was here, already, it made it easier for him to look for something since the 'expert' was around.

"B-But Juvia doesn't want to pick out something for Love Rival!" wanting to cry just a little.

Stopping just there, "Eeh?" looking at her a little odd, "It's for **you** " he emphasized that last bit, "Like I said, we won't be staying around long... so..." flustered, realizing he was admitting to her, "Ne-Nevermind... Let's just go ahead and get it over with" refusing to look at her, but continued to hold onto her hand.

Her heart jumped at the thought that he was actually looking for something for her the entire day, making her realized that there was still a little more ways she had to go perhaps before finally getting used to this whole new 'relationship' she was starting to have. Of course, the thought hadn't crossed her mind before that he actually was going to get her something, but it was just the years she had spent not really getting much back that rushed back up to her without a moments thought. Did he really like her more than a friend? The question still bothered her. She had understood that he was 'new' to this whole love thing, but it was a little disheartening to know that he was still taking his time with his reply to her. Even if they had 'agreed' to take it slowly, every moment she had shared with him had only proven more why Juvia loved the dragon slayer. One of the most important reasons, shes come to understand, is that he had always thought of her and how she'd probably feel about it. Regardless if it was just as a 'friend' or more than that, the thought that she was a factor in his mind had made her swell with happiness.

Though, as they came to a stop, she was a little curious as he just stood there, letting go of her head. Had she done anything wrong? It began to bother her just a little why after everything felt it was going so well that he just stopped, "...Natsu...Is everythin-"

"One time" cutting her off, he faced her with a light fluster on his face, trying his best to still come off 'stern' and 'serious', "I'll do 'one' thing if it'll make you feel a little more 'secure' about things" he added.

Curious, she looked over at her, "One...thing?" flustered to her eyes, her pale skin had instantly dyed a deep crimson.

There were so many things she could ask him to do just to 'prove' that she didn't need to worry or feel the need to revert back to her old ways. Though, it was a little hard because she wasn't sure what one act she could request of him. She knew regardless, he'd easily shut down marriage, or even kids, as much as that bothered her. And she didn't want to outright 'force' him to suddenly confess to her, besides she could do that by easily finding out his weaknesses, but she still wanted to figure out what one thing he could do. What she chose had to be 'perfect', something that could indefinitely make her assured that he wasn't going to 'leave' her or that she wasn't going to have any love rivals.

"Mmm..." thinking long and hard, trying to gather her thoughts despite her heart racing loud and fast, "Then... you have to..." murmuring a little, she wasn't sure, even though she had just listed a whole bunch of things earlier. "Kiss Juvia" telling him straight. Despite the light blush on her face, she was serious, "Juvia... wants something she's never ever gotten."

Dulling his eyes at her, he wanted to reject her decision, but seeing as she seemed fairly serious about it, he didn't have it in him to reject her honest decision. "Fine... just one, okay?" sighing, not wanting to dampen her mood.

"Of course of course!" excited, her eyes lit up as she closed her eyes, pushing her lips open to him, "Juvia is ready" murmuring somehow despite her lips being out and ready. Though, all she felt was a warm press of lips pressed against her cheek, sending chills through her body. Opening her eyes, her face was flushed, her heart beating harder as warmth spread through her body, "That wasn't what Juvia asked for..." flustered, she tried to keep herself composed.

Smiling, he brought her close to him, "Should've been more specific" teasing her, "C'mon,... Let's hurry up so we can get something to eat."

Despite how upset she was about the little 'misunderstanding' she had to still admit that it was probably the biggest pieces of assurance that she was ever given, thinking that maybe it would be easier for her to understand a little more about the pinkette. Still, as she clung to his arm happily, pressing herself against his arm, she smiled, thinking and anticipating how it would affect her once he gave her a 'full' and 'real' kiss instead of something on the cheek. From just something as simple as a 'light' kiss on the cheek, it was enough to slowly send her mind into light mush, and a burning mess around her body, feeling a large collision of affection. She had never entirely gotten something as of the sort like that, and while it may take a little longer for her to understand and move on from her old ways, she felt confident that she could do it, now that she had some sort of 'sign'. That wasn't going to stop her, however, from doing her best to 'push' him towards her, and while she didn't know how long it would be until she knew for certain, perhaps not as long as she previously though, there was no doubt that she was going to see this through the end. Looking up at the dragon slayer, comfortably pressed up against his arms, she could only think and smile about for they can can 'truly' be together.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry about the long wait. A few weeks ago or before (Darky mentioned in their other works) I got caught up trying to finish up my short chaptered series, but as it turned out my brain completely FRIED. XD. And because of that I had to DRASTICALLY cut my releases because normally i'd try to keep up with multiple series all at once,... and each of them turns out to be thousands and thousands of words long... and storyboard planning. (At some point Darky burned and died o-o it was a giant ball of fire! WOO) shush you. But yeah, it got a little stressful and so because of it I had to cut my releases to just one or two a week. Though, lately, i've been wanting to just batch upload... well.. just like one series a month... easier to keep focus. Plus, classes are coming up...(Darky's been a little depressed) Sshuuuusshhhhhh x-x. But yeah... I hope you all enjoyed this series. I'm not putting it on hold or quitting it, I'm really just saying I know how much you've all loved my quick updates, and I'm sorry about my decision. Anywho, about the story. Yeah, this was actually a 'scenario' that my friend 'thehappy' and I have come up with waaaaaayyyy back, and he has an awesome story 'A Dragon of the COG'. He's helped me with my Juvia stories and my other stories as well, and one of the things we like to talk about is Juvia stalking. xD ALSO can any one spot a reference? (; It may be easier for some of you or harder~ Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know what you think in a review :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: and I hope you all are okay with my choice ;w; (Darky and I apologizes)**


	12. Less than Three

**Chapter XII: Less than Three**

* * *

It hadn't been long since the two of them were running around some of the towns they'd come across by, getting a pick me up at a hotel or do some jobs, she had to admit that it was nice to relax in a nice place rather than rummage around in the woods. Though, even that she didn't mind, because it merely meant that she would have all the alone time she could with her beloved Dragon slayer, without the worry that some other 'horrible woman' was going to snatch him away. Still, she was impatient as ever, wondering and dreaming of the day he would finally take her for his own. She wouldn't be lying if she wasn't a little 'desiring' to be forceful about it, wanting to push him her way, but as she recalled, the last time she tried, she wound up losing focus of her original goal and stalked him primarily just for the act and nature of stalking. However, it wasn't a total loss, at least, that was what she felt. Ever since the two of them were 'alone' she had eyed that he would be a little 'different' when it came to her. She couldn't necessarily place her thoughts on it, but she felt there was definitely a difference in how things would have gone. A lot of it, from what she had noticed, was a little more increase on how he'd look at her, linger, and while it was true that he had done that previously, before the two of them shared that night together on the beach, she had an inkling still that it was 'different', stronger. Maybe, just maybe he was slowly developing more for her. With her noticing only a few times, she had wanted to make sure that it was the case, perhaps then, she could use it to her advantage and try to find a means to use it as a 'weapon' to snatch him once and for all. As much as she disliked having to wait it out, she wanted to create the 'perfect' trap to ensnare the Dragon.

Seeing as they were getting back into the swing of things, the two, as they always had, started their mornings out in the wild with training, helping another pushing past their limits and improve on their own skills and prowess. Because most of her spells kept the fighting 'away' from her, she had decided to ask him if he could help her in that aspect she felt was lacking. Not that she couldn't do much on her own, but over the time they spent together training, and partaking in mock battles, she realized that her ability wasn't too 'adept' close-range unless she had some other means of immobilizing her enemies before hand. It wasn't a bad means of fighting, but while she was with one of Fairy Tail's infamous hand-to-hand brawlers, she figured it would be a good a time as ever to see how she could improve herself. Well, as well as find another means to get closer to him. It wouldn't be that bad if she were to try and make an attempt, well, another reason would be because she was intrigued by his increase in noticing here.

Taking it slow at first, the two took time getting her into the groove of things. While she had seen many of the other Mages, especially those from her old Guild fight, she hadn't, in her deepest memory, done so, always striking from a 'safe distance'. Because of this, he decided it was probably better for to feel the fluid of motion, and while he didn't particularly have any 'style', he primarily just flew in with instinct whenever he'd fight. "So... like this?" she asked, her fists balled up, making a fist like he had shown.

"Yeah... like that" smiling at her, "Now... For the moment I'll just have my hands up" saying as she raised his hands for her to see, holding them out in front of him, "For now just focus on coordination..." commenting.

Determined, she put on a concentrated look, "Juvia understands!" commenting as she focused forward. Hesitantly, just a little, she swallowed down the strange feeling nestling in her as she threw her fist out, tapping up against his hand, "...!..." amazed, she threw another one, "This... feels great... for some reason..." excited, she tried to keep herself at a steady pace.

"I know right?" smiling sheepish, he stood there as he took on her punches, "Don't think too much of 'power' and just focus on where you're hitting..." thought after a moment, he noticed something, "Mmm... Can you move your arms well in that?" asking.

Stopping for a moment, "Urmm... not very much..." feeling embarrassed, she wasn't sure how else to explain, "Juvia... doesn't normally fight physically so it's never been a problem... but..."

"Well... take it off then" blankly looking at her, "No sense get used to fighting if your arms can't move with them" his grin growing childish, "I mean these clothes are 'light'" saying as he moved his arms in the red long-sleeved tunic, "So there isn't much hold-back... but yours is kinda thick isn't it?"

Flustering, while he was talking through it all, her mind only tracked onto 'one thing', "D-Does... Natsu want Juvia to... to strip?" feeling a little steam pocketing out as her mind lingering. " _Natsu want's to see Juvia's naked body..._ " her mind dropping further from that one line, " _Does... Does that mean...?_ " her face growing hotter and a darker shade of red, steam began piling out, filling the vacant area in a host steamy mist.

"...Er... Juv... you okay?" tilting his head a little, baffled as he wondered what she was up to, "You're kind of... steaming up the pla-"

Before he could finish, the Water Mage had, in a burst of her own emotions, stripped off her raincoat, leaving her in just her stockings and bra, tackling him to the ground, "Natsu finally wants to take Juvia for his own!" fawning over the thought, she pressed herself against him, "Don't worry, Natsu... be as rough as you want... Juvia can tak-"

"Eeermmmmm, Juv..." murmuring, she looked down to see his face flustered, pressed against her chest, "While... I don't necessarily hate this... ... this isn't what I meant" saying as he tried to contain himself from accidentally 'attacking' the Rain Woman.

Pouting, "Mmmmm! You keep sending Juvia mixed messages!" puffing her cheeks, "She's waited long enough! Juvia's going to take her Dragon right now!" smothering herself over onto him.

She couldn't deny that he was keeping her waiting with the whole confession thing, and while this wasn't necessarily the plan that she was going to go with, she wanted to cease the moment for the time being and try and 'foricbly' take advantage of the moment. Rolling around, the two of them 'fought', well, one of them, Juvia was trying to smother him as much of herself with her as she could, while the other one, Natsu, was attempting to do the exact opposite, namely avoid her grasp and attempts to succeed. Eventually, their little 'scuffle' came to an end, as during the midst of their 'fight', they were greeted by another companion of theirs, namely, Natsu's flying pal, Happy, the Exceed. Coming to a full stop just as he floated on by, he looked up, as did she, seeing as both of them had forgotten that the Exceed was still sleeping, and they had gotten up earlier to partake in training on their own.

"..." the Exceed was at a loss for words as he gazed down at his other traveling friends, rubbing his eyes as if he was trying to correct himself.

Unsure how else to respond, both of them returned the same silent expression, "..." watching as the Exceed had definitely tried to 'rub his eyes' awake, wondering if he was still in dream land.

"...Yeah... I'm definitely still sleeping..." the zzz'ing Exceed murmured as he turned around, and tiredly marched his way back to his bed, "Natsu and Juvia being this intimate...? I think Juvia somehow brainwashed me into have this dream..." saying as he left his friend in the situation.

A little shocked that his 'buddy' would leave him in this state, the Dragon Slayer reached out in desperation, "W-Wait! Happy... Don't leave me here...!"

"Happy said it's okay!" smiling, she brushed her cheek against his, tightening her hold onto him, "It's okay..." draws on his chest, "Natsu is free to-" though, having realized something was amiss, she quickly rose up, feeling around herself, "Wait... Juvia lost her precious!" puffing her cheeks, she crawled around looking, "Mouuu... Where is it?" a little panicked, she frantically looked around, crawling all over the ground.

Confused, the pinkette rose from his spot, "Errm... Juvia...?" calling out to her a little absentmindedly, "Are... you okay?" asking.

"Found it!" smiling, she held in her hands a necklace with a sun pendant dyed pink, "Juvia found her precious" blushing, she held it and rubbed it against her cheek, "She was afraid she lost you."

Kneeling down to her level, "Oh... Isn't that the thing I bought you while we were last in town" pondering.

"It's more than that!" correcting him, "Because Natsu has been really stubborn and playing 'hard to get', this is the only thing Juvia has to reaffirm his feelings for her" commenting as she looks at him, "So! This is Juvia's Precious~" smiling. "Now~ Back to the main fe-" though, just as she lunged at him, his hand blocked her from tackling him to the ground this time, "Mmmmm! Natsu! Juvia can't have your children if you don't let her assault you!"

Dulling his gaze at her, "...I feel we've completely gotten off track of the point of our training..." trailing just a little.

"Does... Natsu not want Juvia to have his children...?" Looking up at him, her eyes fell sorrow as she gave him a heart breaking look, "...Is she not good enough after all...?"

Struck with both guilt and embarrassment, he turned his gaze to the side, finding it difficult to break eye-contact with her, "...I didn't necessarily say that..." scratching his cheek nervously, feeling an anxious sweat build up, "Just... We're out in the middle of the woods... and..." he could feel her lingering gaze piercing harder as he tried to find the right words to please and console the Rainwoman, "Errmm... ..." coming at a loss to say, he decided there was only one way to fix this, "H-how about we go get something to eat?" smiling a bit hesitant.

"..." seeing the look on his face made her wonder. How much did he truly 'see' her? "Natsu...?" calling out to him, "Juvia... needs another reassurance" biting down, feeling bad that she had to question it at a time like this.

As she cast her gaze away, she immediately responded to the movement and sounds that he was making, and with a light grasp of her chin he lightly turned him to face her. Starting into his draconic onyx eyes, she felt her heart warm and shiver, even if a light sense of doubt began to wash over her, he brought her close and pecked the corner of her lips. The tingling sensation of him having almost touched her lips set her soul on fire, and looking into his retreating flustered face, she followed her instincts. With her hands placed around his neck, she brought him close and lightly pressed her lips up against the same spot he kissed her.

"One of these days... Juvia is hoping for a real kiss with Natsu" mumuring as she pressed her head into the crook of his neck, "Can... she expect something soon?"

Pulling her in a warm embrace, taking her by surprise, he understood the feeling she was having. "...Yes" telling her.

"Mmn... That's fine then" smiling warmly, "Well!" rising straight up, "If... it's okay with you" looking at him warmly, "Juvia would like to continue her training."

Despite the kind loving smile that she was giving, there was still an earlier issue, rather, the fact she had still stripped down to just her undergarments, "Ermm... Before we do that..." flustered, he began to undress his tunic and hand it to her, "Here... cover up with this..." narrowing his gaze away, he handed her his tunic"Plus it won't hurt your movements when we do train."

"..." taking the tunic, she stared at it as he face burned further, " _Natsu... was just wearing this..._ " thinking loudly in her mind, " _So... that must mean..._ "

As he rose up, stretching his limbs out once more, he turned over to face the Rainwoman, "Mmm? Something wrong, Juvia?" blankly asking her, "I mean... you don't really have to wear it if it's a little...welll... smelly? I mean I barely wore that one..." uttering that one last piece to himself, "But I think I have some clean ones back at camp if you wa-"

"N-No! This will be fine!" flustered, she hurriedly began sliding on his tunic, "Just... no... it's nothing..." saying, " _It's like... Natsu is... all over Juvia_ " shivering, she tried to ignore her fantasies from taking over as she just imagined his scent melding all over her. " _No... snap out of it!_ " lightly smacking her own cheeks, pumping herself up, " _Juvia needs to focus! If she does well... perhaps she'll get a reward~_ " turning over to face him, she rose up, the necklace lightly tucked into the tunic's collar, "Juvia's ready, Natsu!" determined once more.

Finishing up loosening his joints, he turned over to the Water Mage with excitement in his eyes, "Great... Now... because the other lesson was god awfully **boring** , I decided, just now, to switch it up" saying as he got into a stance, "We're going to have a practice fight. No magic, just using our fists and our hands... This'll also improve ermm... well..." dulling as he couldn't remember the exact point, "Basically! It'll just be much more helpful for you for when a 'real' fight occurs... ummm... more or less..." smiling a bit embarrassed.

"Okay!" pumped up, she accepted the Dragon Slayer's little lesson without a moment's hesitation. She didn't know why, but believed further that it was because of the fact she was wearing his tunic that spurred and inspired all the determination she had building up. As if a burning fire had been lit from spending such time with him, she faced the pinkette without delay, " _Natsu had been training very hard... and no matter what, Juvia cannot fall behind!...She's going to reach the heaven filled heights... and be right beside him._ "

Without a moment delayed longer, the two went forth, as she tried to tune her body to watch and listen to the Dragon's movements very carefully. While they both knew she couldn't necessarily be harmed from this, thanks to her [Water Body] spell, it was still good practice for her to still adjust in the event she didn't have enough magic to concentrate on keeping it active. Likewise, it seemed very important to read an enemy's moves, as he had during their mock battles. Even if he hadn't looked it, he always was keen and light on his feet, knowing when and what direction her attacks were going to come in on. While she was always amazed by how he managed to memorize, she was also a little 'jealous' if anything that he managed to do so after only a few moments of their mock battles. Even her Water Lock had, time and time again, proven ineffective, as he'd have shown that he could easily dissolve that simply by igniting himself on fire, increasing the temperature to an unnatural degree that it would cause all the water to burst into steam. That was why, if she was going to prove her strength to herself, she needed to learn other ways she could add to her own arsenal, and, not to mention, get closer to the one she was in love with as well.

-[x]-

Night had fallen, and after a long day of traveling and training, the two eventually found a new place to settle for the night, and while she was used to camping in the outdoors, having that brief exposure to 'light' civilization was a little distracting and threw her off a little. Though, if she had to be a little honest, all that really mattered to her was that she could be with her beloved as much as possible. Almost, just a little, it terrified her, how hard her heart would beat against her chest. The more she thought about him, the more her heart jumped, feeling his arms around her as they'd spend the nights huddled against the other under the starry sky. Washing herself off under the waterfall from a tiny lake they had found, she held the sun shaped necklace around her neck and felt the warmth of the moment and day he had gotten this for her. She had wished he could understand the importance she felt behind the tiny piece of jewelry he had gotten for her, but, the more she thought about it, it was almost as if he had always 'attempted' to ignore those ideas, pushing them away as much as he could before they could bloom out. Thinking, holding up the necklace, she wanted to do 'something', something to get get him to push through whatever was holding back, but, she wasn't sure what.

As she finished, she dried herself off, wondering whether she should go back wearing her clothes, or take advantage of the fact that she had 'his' clothes that she could wear. And, while seeing that he was already willing and had let her use it for their training session, a little idea popped into her mind as she mischievously smirked. Taking his clothes, she took a little extra time where she was, cleaning it as best as she could before making a decision to make her way back to where they were. A part of her didn't know why, but something about wearing it had always cheered her up and made her feel comfortable, making it feel like she wanted to make the most of it.

" _Mmm... I hope Natsu doesn't mind~_ " thinking to herself, she made her way, focusing on cleaning up the outfit.

-[x]-

Finishing up what she had done, she strolled her way into the camp place, humming a sweet little tune in her head as she made her way in. There wasn't much she had done, honestly, but she had really just made a decision and wanted to show it. Peeping around, pushing through some of the bushes, she looked both ways and found him dozing off near the camp fire, using his bag as a pillow and roasting something good for the both of them to eat. Looking, she'd noticed that he still hadn't replaced the clothes he had given her, giving her full view of his chest, and to think, she was able to see this without having to stalk him this time around! Flustering, she began to fawn over the adorable sight of the sleeping Dragon Slayer before her, making her feel a little antsy about what she should and shouldn't do now that she had this grace in front of her. Thinking back to earlier, she planned on whether or not she should pounce him, seeing as this was her chance, though, once she began pondering and planning things out, she wasn't sure whether she should do just that, or try a much more sly approach in this matter.

Though, after seeing how exhausted he was, she realized there was only one 'good' option left, and figured it wouldn't be too much trouble to deal with, especially if he were to catch her in the middle of her act, not like he's stopped her before. With a large stretch, next to the cackling fire, she made her way over to him and lied down, huddling up against 'her' Dragon with a warm smile. Though, like she had assumed, just the second that she had grown comfortable was the moment that he began to stir a little in his nap, moving around just a little, waking himself up, and stretching in his spot. She was a little disappointed that he had gotten up just when she finally managed to plop down next to him, but it made up to her that he hadn't tried pushing her away almost immediately after he had just woken up.

"Mmmn... Juvia..." tiredly calling at her, "Did you just get done?" asking, rubbing his eyes a little.

Lovingly, she firmed her hold around him and nuzzled his neck, "Mhmmmm~" smiling, she held him as if she were afraid to let go of him, "She finished up and came back.. but seeing Natsu look so comfortable made her a little tired as well~"

"I... I can see that... " coming to that conclusion as he he felt her around him, "...And you're still wearing my tunic...?"

If her cheeks could get any hotter, they surely had just now, "Mhmm~" answering him without problems, "It feels so comfortable on Juvia... so she wanted to keep it.. ermm... "looking up to him a little pouty like, "If... If that's okay with Natsu...?"

"Well... if you don't necessarily mind that..." scratches his cheek, averting his gaze, "It's just..." pausing for a moment, something was on his mind he wanted to get out, "Hey... Juvia...?" calling out to her, "Aren't you scared? you know... 'entrusting' your heart to some other guy just 'cause the one before kind of...well..didn't work out...?" speaking aloud, "It seemed... well... it just felt really sudden... I always thought you'd hold out... maybe if Gray popped back around you both would make up and all... maybe-"

Pressing the tip of her finger against his lips, "Natsu... Juvia... honestly... she didn't know any of this would happen..." admitting to him, "You've been so nice to Juvia... and... it's kinda of scary... she'll admit..." falling short, solemnly looked down at chest, "But!" perking back up, she faced him with determination, "Juvia knows Natsu will come through for her..." smiling warmly at her, "That's why Juvia treasures the necklace so-" for a moment, she realized something, "Wait..." in a light panic, she rose up, patting her chest, "It isn't here? but... Juvia... Juvia... she..." realizing where it 'may' have been, she bolted off towards the lake once more.

"J-Juvia, wait!" seeing how much of a rush she was in, he had gotten up and followed straight after her.

Rushing back, she tried to remember when she could have taken it off, something that's 'never' left her neck the moment it was given to her. Then, she realized, it must have been at some point between when she was finishing washing up and tidying up the clothes she was wearing. Was that it? The more she tried to wonder to question why she had done that in the first place. There was a chance, that the only reason she had done so was because she was afraid of losing it while she was staying in the lake for an unknown set of time. If it was a quick wash then she wouldn't have had to, but the feeling of being in larger body of water, that bigger than the tub or shower, had always seemed like a special treat for her, getting to spend as much time as she could in a nice cool collection of water. However, possibly because of her little 'over enjoyment' of the concept had inadvertently made things much more difficult for her as now she had **lost** it. The one thing that had given her her sense of security and light peace of mind, and she made things harder on herself by losing it. She hadn't meant to of course, but she didn't realize how enveloped she was with fixing up the shirt and enveloped in her own fantasy that she had allowed herself to lose what she considered 'most precious' to her.

-[x]-

Making her way back to the place where she washed herself, in her panic, she took a moment to catch her breath as she scanned the area, looking for the piece of jewelry that she had placed somewhere. Though, as she made her way back, she noticed that it was gone. At least, it wasn't where she remembered she placed it. Clocking back to when she was in this area, she remembered placing it on the rock, thinking if she left it strung around her neck, it would get washed away at some point. Then, realizing she was off in a rush to 'surprise' him with everything, she might have forgotten to check back on the place for her possession. Panic began to fell her as she realized she had lost, but realized she needed to find it as soon as possible. Looking everywhere, looking around under the tiny blades of grass and boulders, she kept a sharp eye out just in case she caught wind of it. Although, amidst her search, she had noticed something interesting. There was a set of tracks that had made its way around from one of the boulders, foot prints. One track leading in, and another leading back the other way. Curious about where it had led, she realized that perhaps someone had swiped it when she had left, or stumbled upon it at some point. Battling slightly within her head, she wasn't sure what what be the correct choice. Either follow the trail or give up on it. While, it was obvious that she shouldn't focus so much into it, it was more than some piece to her that could be replaced.

Shaking her thoughts astray, she made a run for it, following the tracks she found, hoping to find more signs of it as she continued to run on by. The farther she ran, the more she could 'lightly' hear the voices of people, prompting her to settle. Slowly, she crept forward, doing her best to limit and minimize the sounds she made as she stalked her way over. With every step, she could hear the voices growing louder, the fire they started growing brighter. Taking note of that, she kept low, keeping an eye out as she shifted through the area in search of her necklace. Her heart was racing, biting down on herself to keep her thoughts from vocalizing as she inched closer, eventually taking in what they were saying. Biting her thumb just a little, she kept to herself, feeling the need to figure out more of what they were saying if she was ever hoping to get back her possession.

"Wow, we really picked up a haul too..." one of them commented on, taking out a bag full of jewelry, pulling out some of the 'prizes', "Who woulda thunk some of those travelers would have so much on them while they were passing on by" he was a large man, with scars and a raggedy scarves.

It was then another of them spoke up, "I know, Gyahahah!" commenting, "Once we cash these in, there jewels would come'a flowin' right in."

It wasn't that hard for her to determine that these were thieves, that part was obvious, but it was strange enough that they had gone out of their way to the place where she was at to steal the piece 'she' had? Either they weren't that strong, or they were fairly worn out from their days worth. Regardless of the case, all she had to do was make sure that they would, at some point, bring out the piece that belong to her. Well, everything else was important too, but she was more concerned with whether or not they had 'her' piece, at least at that point she would feel at least a little relieved that she knew where it was.

"Hmm... I like this one..." this time was a female thief, with ravenous wild hair and a scar running across her cheek, "Yo, where'd you pick this one up?" asking, holding up the sun necklace, her necklace.

Looking on over, "Hmmm... I found it when I went to get some water" they commented, "Seemed like someone left it behind for some reason..." adding on, "Easy grab... probably worth about 30,000J? something like that?" figuring it out.

"...!" alerted, she took a peek, and kept her eye fixed on the woman, " _That's the one Juvia left behind..._ " commenting to herself as she kept on track. Feeling her heart pick up the pace, racing, she eyed her opponents. She had a large confidence in her strength, having trained hard and intense with the Dragon Slayer these past months, plus, with the fact she was wearing 'his' clothing' she felt a higher surge of confidence pouring through her. This was going to be her chance once again. " _Remember, Juvia..._ " reminding herself, " _Find a way to make his training into yours!_ "

Keeping a sharp look, she waited for an opening she could exploit, and to make her entrance. Though, amidst all the confusion, she had forgotten 'one' important thing. She was a Water Mage, and while she could strike fairly hard and well from mid to long distances, she was also good at 'locking' them as well. All she needed to do was concentrate, and keep track of all of them, and use 'Water Lock' to trap them all while she walked off with all the stolen merchandise.

"Say... When's Raru coming back with the grub...?" one of them groaned, "Shouldn't he be getting back right about now?"

Then it struck her, she was focused and kept her gaze on the ones around the campfire, that she hadn't paid mind to the idea or possibility that 'more' of them could be out, and she left herself open and vulnerable. The more the she thought about that, the more it explained the dark intense feeling she had that was boiling behind her, and as she swallowed her 'fear' she turned around, and noticed a much larger man. Shivering just a little, he was far taller than the other ones, and far more built, standing there, towering over her. In his arms was a creature at least five times larger than he was, and he was able to carry it with no problem. Feeling a sweat fall through, she stood up, and just as she was about to face the threat head on...

"Outta my way!" in a fiery rampage, the large man was launched straight to the group of people that were waiting for him around the campfire. And behind him, the cause, was the pinkette, "Finally... found you!" huffing, just a little, "Why did you just run off like that!" Though as he peeked behind her, he noticed the other groups of people were there, angry and raring to go, "Nevermind! I'll talk with you after we're done!" telling her.

For the first time, he seemed genuinely angry with her, startling her as he pushed on by her without a second look. Shivering a little, she fell as her heart began to lightly break, wondering if she really screwed up. Looking on over, she watched as he, by himself, began to brawl his way through, flawlessly dodging and blocking, striking as it came, knocking them back as they'd come flying back in. Standing there, she began to wonder. Is she even needed? Natsu was strong, she had always known that before from how much he'd pop around the Guild, picking fights with Gray or even Gajeel. Though, as she kept watched, she noticed something. He was exhausted, probably from spending all day with her training and the fact they hadn't eaten as much, well, he hadn't had as much as he normally liked to eat. Even if he were mad at her, she wanted to do something, at least so that she wasn't just being 'useless'.

Jumping in, she pressed up against his back, as the two of them took on the small group of thieves. "Natsu..." softly calling out to him, "Juvia's... sorry..." closing her eyes tight, "...You must really hate her now..."

"Eh!?" Of course I don't!" saying, leaping forward, striking with one hand before pummeling through with the other, his fists burning with flames, "I'm just mad you ran off like that all by yourself!" scolding her a bit, "What if I didn't come?"

Trying to keep focus, she watched the enemies movements, maximizing the pressure of water in her hands as she fluidly swept side by side, blocking an overhead strike before pulling all her into her punch, "[Water Body: Pressure Strike!]" thinking, as she punched, upon contact, her arm shot off a pressurized blast of water that gave off the same amount of force as the pinkette beside her, "But...! It was important..." crying out to him, "She finally found the precious you gave her!"

"[Fire Dragon's Flaming Fist!]" his hands burned and engulfed in flames, he blasted off the ones that kept jumping on back, "Happy! Measure two!" shouting.

Popping in on his wings, "Aye!" the blue cat saluted before unleashing a powerful blast of wind with his wings, "Tornado Drill!"

"[Fire Dragon...'s]" gathering magic in his stomach, he waited as the drills of wind collided with a few of the thieves, "[...Roar!]" unleashing a spiraling torrent of flames, clashing with the wind. Mixed with the two, the amplified blast was powerful enough to create a massive blast of flames that tore through the half the wildlife they were in, "Tch..." grunting a little at the misfortune he had created, he turned to face the Rainwoman, "Juvia... That thing doesn't matter to me..." telling her, huffing a little, "YOU. Is what matters to me.. not some-"

Interrupting him, she was blocking, using her Water Body to help dodge a bit more dexterous and fling them aside with her [Water Cane], "But... It matters to Juvia...!" retorting, "Without it... She..."

"Juvia!" calling out to her, he dropped-kicked one of them in a fiery blaze, "..." Resting his hands on her shoulders, "..." gritting his teeth, as if he was fighting himself with something. "I...-"

Popping in, the larger man, the one that Natsu had originally punched aside, roared as he jumped at the two, "I'll get you back for-"

"Shut up, We're in the middle of something!" annoyed, the both of them turned and struck the man, one had her arm still pressurizing water, and the other, had his flames still burning.

As they both struck the man at the same time, the conflicting opposing elements converging together at the same time was enough to meld into one and, in a white flash, causing a massive blast of pure energy, knocking the man away into the stars in the sky. Though, because of the overwhelming blast, the two of them were blown, him holding onto her to shield her from most of the fall damage as they tumbled around. The force of the explosion was enough to knock them all the way back near their camp, tumbling around. Eventually, as they came to a stop, the two of them managed to open their eyes just a little, wincing a little from the after effects. Though, with his eyes staring back down at hers, his hands pressed in such a way that held her down, she couldn't help but feel lost in them. And as they looked at another, looking back to what had happened just a few moments ago, the two of them burst into a light laughter, as they realized what had just happened.

"All that... and yet..." smiling, she wiped the cheerful tears from her eyes as she looked up at him warmly, "It seems... Juvia picked up some of Natsu's habits..." feeling a little proud of herself.

Chuckling a little, "Yeah... I suppose you did..."

The two of them continued laughing, chuckling a bit more. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, freshly poured from her laughter, she stared at him a little more, the cheerful smile that always waited for her. And as she did, her heart warmed once more, reminding her a little of why he had tried to tell her that 'it' wasn't as important. Then, as they gazed at another, their eyes locked, she could feel her cheeks fluster, her heart thumping against her chest. Staring down at her, the feeling in her chest began to grow, and before she could think of what had happened. He rose up, scratching the side of his cheek a little embarrassed, realizing what situation they were in.

"Natsu..." sitting up, "...Were you gonna say something before we got blasted away?" curiously, she sat, her legs sprawled.

Hearing that, he jumped a little, "E-Eh!? No..." smiling a little larger, his face burning redder, "Of Course... I mean..." averting his gaze just a little, "You know..."

"..." a little more curious, she pressed on more for answers, "Natsu..." calling out to him, a bit more innocently pining, "Will... you tell Juvia?" asking him a little more persistent.

Staring at her a little dead, "..." he grumbled a little, "Well..." saying, wondering how else he should continue on, "I just meant... You shouldn't have done all that..." telling her, "I mean... it's just a piece of jewelry..." admitting to her, "If you...really wanted me to..." her heart skipped for just a little, realizing what he was getting to, "It's just... you know... 'loving' someone has never been that easy for me... I think..." keeping his eyes fixed on the ground, "Igneel... Lisanna..." saying aloud, " _...her..._ " thinking, "I just..."

"...Yes...?" her heart was picking up more, beating harder and faster than she had ever felt before, "...You mean...-"

Swallowing down his fear, he looked at her dead on, "Juvia... I...love yo-" before he could finish that sentence, she threw herself onto him, her lips flushed across his as she pressed him into the ground. He could feel her tears streak down, and as they broke apart, he watched as she gazed at him from above, tears falling down onto his face, "Juvia... are... you okay?"

"..." nodding, she propped herself up, wiping her tears but they kept coming, "Juvia's... just so happy..." crying a little more, cringing, "She thought... she wouldn't ever hear those words... not from anyone that she loved..." somehow, despite her tears, she wasn't stopping. It didn't seem all 'that' bad, least, it wasn't raining or drenching the world, "Juvia's sorry she took Natsu's lips so suddenly... but... she couldn't help but-"

Before she could finish, this time 'she' was the one that was pushed down, "Well... obviously I'm not doing a great job if you're still crying" smiling down at her, cheerfully smiling.

She didn't have a moments left to ponder and think as he snatched her lips, taking her by surprise. Lost in the bout of their 'newfound' love, the two of them, held the other in their grips as their lips pressed against the other. Perhaps this was the first and only moment she had felt something stronger than admiration, more than the feeling of looking at someone from afar. This was a rare time, that she had ever cried in a manner that was so joyous and filled with such happiness and warmth, that she left it continue, feeling the man she grew to love and admire, and in turn, felt for the first time what to felt to be loved and appreciated by someone more than she could ever feel. She was going to keep this feeling, lock it away, memorize, and as they gazed at another, smiling soft and gently, he brushed the tears from her eyes as he snatched her lips, burning her with an explosion of warmth for every second. A moment felt like forever, as she didn't mind it. It was surreal, and as she held onto him, every now and then she had to pinch herself in order to assure it all wasn't a dream. Every second that passed, every moment was etched. Even though her crying had yet to cease, it was the happiest moment of her life that she knew of. And as the night drifted deeper into the night, pockets of steam burst into the sky.

* * *

 **A\N: Yeaahhhl... Sorry this took so long. Updates were a pain x_x and I was occupied with writing somethhing...welll 'special' and (Darky has been having problems with Exams... and their wisdoms 'just' got pulled) Don't remind me ;w; so yeah. I've been a bit down from the whole thing... doing more art and graphics stuff to keep me happy... I wrote this chapter as a 'surprise' for (thehappy) as I haven't been updating, and maybe for a while I may focus on Crimson Dragon just because I'm in the middle of the Tenrou arc (That I'm still writing) I hope this chapter was 'enough' to satiate the wait it took, and well, the wait till i get to its completion... (Scarlet Dragon + Crimson Dragon etc... Also have a draft working of Route XX chapter 2). So, yeah! Romance o-o stuff. I hope it wasn't 'too much' and I really wasn't sure how to bundle these two. I had other drafts, but I thought this one worked better... especially 'cause I forgot I have a "T" rating for this story... so... yeah. Sorry o-o. I hope you guys.. again, liked the chapter, sorry about slow slow releases x-x and... that's all I think x_x Let me know what you thought with a review! And I hope I get back into it all soon x_x**


End file.
